Russia woos African leaders at Moscow summit

Russia will host almost two dozen African leaders in Moscow on Wednesday and Thursday, seeking to further buttress ties with countries it sees as "natural allies" against the West.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow on October 27, 2026. (Photo by MAXIM SHIPENKOV / POOL / AFP)

The Russia-Africa summit, the third since 2019, comes as Moscow grapples with heavy Western sanctions over its Ukraine offensive and as it provides security assistance to several African governments.

Moscow has courted ties with Africa since the Soviet era, and has long looked to the continent as a counterweight to what it sees as Western domination over international affairs.

"We are natural allies in building a multipolar world order," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said of the summit, referring to a system where political power is no longer concentrated in the West but among multiple regions.

Source: Citizen Digital