Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday called on some African countries to end their policy of neutrality over Russia’s invasion of his country.
Fifteen months after the devastating war, D. Kuleba had arrived in Ethiopia, where he participated in a tour of the region to encourage African support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
“We are talking to our African friends and trying to explain to them that neutrality is not the answer,” he said in English at a press conference in Addis Ababa, where the African Union (AU) is based.
AP/Scanpix/Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba
“By being neutral on Russian aggression against Ukraine, you are projecting your neutrality on border violations and mass crimes that can happen very close to you, if not yourself,” he added.
In February, 22 of the African Union’s 54 member states abstained or did not vote on a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine on the first anniversary of the full-scale war.
Two of them, Eritrea and Mali, voted against the resolution.
During the visit, D. Kuleba talked with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed, the head of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, and the current AU Chairman, Comoros President Azali Assoumani.
“I know that there are countries and people in Africa who sympathize with Russia because they associate Russia with the support these countries received during the Soviet Union and with the role of the Soviet Union in the decolonization of Africa,” Kuleba said.
“This Russia is very different. “I think the biggest real Russian investment in Africa today is the Wagner mercenaries,” he said, referring to the private military group fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.
He said that Russia is neither on the list of countries that provide humanitarian aid to Africa, nor on the list of the largest investors on the continent.
“Russian propaganda is very good. They are very active in Africa,” he added.
D. Kuleba noted that he is the first foreign minister of Ukraine to visit Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa.
“Unfortunately, our relations with African countries have not been given due attention in our foreign policy for many years and we have lost a lot,” he added.
The minister promised that Ukraine is on the side of Africa when it comes to food security, as the continent is one of the hardest hit by rising prices and supply disruptions caused by the Russian invasion.
