Russian foreign policy in Africa
The second edition of the Russia-Africa Summit was held in St. Petersburg between 27–28 July, 2023. The first summit was held in 2019 in Sochi, Russia, where heads of state of 43 out of the 54 African nations were present. This year, 17 heads of state were present at the summit from among the 49 confirmed attendees, while the remaining were represented by other high-ranking officials.
Russia blamed Western pressure for this but that is hardly the entire story.