U.S. Won’t Ask African Nations to Pick Sides in Standoff With Russia, Blinken Says

The U.S. won’t ask African governments to pick sides in an intensifying standoff with other powers such as Russia and China, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in South Africa Monday, in a speech about the Biden administration’s strategy toward the continent.

Mr. Blinken’s visit, with stops scheduled later this week in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, comes at a time of growing U.S. concern about Russia’s clout in Africa and on the heels of a recent trip by Moscow’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

Most African nations, including South Africa, have avoided condemning Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine and not joined Western sanctions against Russia. Some, including the Central African Republic and Mali, are working with a Russian mercenary company, the Wagner Group, that Washington says acts as a proxy for the Kremlin.

In a speech at the University of Pretoria Monday, Mr. Blinken said African governments were free to make their own choices about who to support in the renewed competition with Russia, which has drawn comparisons to the battles for influence of the Cold War era. The top U.S. envoy previously outlined the administration’s vision for Africa in a November speech in Nigeria, in which he promised to treat African governments as equals.