NAIROBI Kenya, May 29 -Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday May 29 arrived in Kenya on an unannounced trip to shore up support for Moscow.
Moscow’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Lavrov’s arrival in Nairobi on Monday morning, without giving further details on the visit.
He is scheduled to talk to journalists later on Monday and meet local officials for bilateral talks.
The Russian embassy in Nairobi in a tweet said this would be “a very fruitful week for Russia-Kenya bilateral relations”.
Lavrov’s visit comes days after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba made an African tour last week to urge member states to end their neutrality over the Russian war in Ukraine.
The diplomat’s visit is the fourth such visit to Africa over the past year amid a year-long war with Ukraine.
Moscow has been keen to re-establish its old Soviet ties with African states and buys influence in the continent as it presents itself as the alternative to perceived “self-interested” colonial powers such as the United Kingdom and the United States.
Over the past years, Russia has shown interest in scaling up the level of trade with Nairobi but contending with huge gaps in data on Africa and near entrenched influence from new players like China as well as its traditional rival, the US.
Want to send us a story? Contact Shahidi News Tel: +254115512797 (Mobile & WhatsApp)
