US EMBASSY: RUSSIAN MINISTER’S VISIT MISINFORMATION PLOY

MBABANE – The United States of America has dismissed as misinformation statements made by Russia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Lavrov Sergey, during his visit to Eswatini.

The US Embassy said Sergey’s visit to Africa was in the best interest of his country, not African countries, including Eswatini. The embassy said the visit was just a ploy to misinform people about the crisis Russia caused in the world by invading Ukraine.

The Russian Federation minister stayed in the country for two days, during an official diplomatic trip. The minister also visited other African countries, such as South Africa, Botswana and Angola. From January 23 to 24, 2023 the minister was in Eswatini, where he engaged in several diplomatic talks with Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini and other Cabinet ministers. The visit was led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Thuli Dladla. It focused on how the two countries could collaborate in several areas, including energy, military and trade, among others.

Allegations

On January 24, Sergey signed a visa waiver for diplomatic passport holders of Eswatini and Russia. He also had an opportunity to address the media, where he made some allegations about the US and its associates. During the press conference, Sergey accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) countries of misinforming the world about Russia and luring ‘naïve’ Ukraine into them. He highlighted that the luring was a method to invade Russia and destroy it with an aim to strengthen the Dollar that was slowly losing its strength. NATO is a security alliance of 30 countries, including North America and Europe, with a fundamental goal to safeguard the allied freedom and security by political and military means. The USA is part of NATO.

The Russian minister accused the USA of interfering in countries’ politics and collapsing economies of the nations where they interfered in politics. He noted that deals of the European Union (EU) where the USA is a member State came with a lot of restrictions for countries. He invited African countries to join Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), since they would not be influenced or forced to change their ethnicity and further disassociate themselves from certain countries like the EU allegedly did. Sergey highlighted that they were aware that the USA was also in a drive to paint Russia as a villain and lobby countries to impose sanctions on Russian products, including 280 tonnes of fertiliser stacked in EU ports.

The US Embassy in Eswatini Spokesperson, Stephanie Sandoval, said if there was a person who was misinforming the world about Russia, it was Russia itself.“Foreign Minister Lavrov is attempting to engage with countries, including Eswatini, to try and stem the onslaught of outrage against Russia, especially by misrepresenting Russia’s role in causing a surge in global food insecurity,” she said.

War

The spokesperson said the Russian Federation knew its horrific war against Ukraine caused the majority of the international community to see it as a pariah State. “We are confident that our partners will see through his cynical attempts at disinformation and focus on the lives lost and misery inflicted because of Russia’s actions,” she said.

Due to the global food crisis brought by the Russian operation in Ukraine, she said the US ramped up assistance across the globe to mitigate the impact of food security and economic shocks on the global system and on the world’s most vulnerable populations, particularly in Africa. Further, as announced at the Africa Leaders’ Summit last December, Sandoval said the Biden Administration was investing in initiatives and activities ranging from strengthening health systems to supporting anti-corruption efforts to promoting economic growth.

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