Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says his country is ready to sell oil and wheat to African countries even as the US Mission in Uganda opened a Twitter storm against Moscow.
Mr. Lavrov on Monday met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Entebbe, where they discussed the issue of rising fuel and food costs in Africa following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
In a joint press conference at State House Entebbe, Mr Lavrov, on the second leg of his trip to four African countries, said the two discussed “the current energy situation and the food crisis”.
“We sell oil to all the interested countries, and if there is a state that is interested or willing to buy our oil, whether it’s India or an African state, then there are no obstacles to this,” said Russia’s top diplomat.
“Not only do we sell oil, but we provide assistance in terms of developing its own infrastructure like refineries and oil products. So we are committed to having a discussion with our Ugandan friends on this topic,” he added.
Mr. Lavrov, who started his four-nation Africa tour in Egypt, then the Congo Republic before heading on Monday to Uganda, from where he will proceed to Ethiopia, observed that Africa has been hard hit by the economic dimension of the sanctions imposed against Russia.
Source: EastAfrica
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 28 JULY 2022
