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,...