John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
“Putin Hosts VIRTUALLY ALL African Leaders at Gargantuan Trade Forum in Sochi
“Writes off $20bn in old debts, bashes western intimidation and blackmail of Africans, concludes a flurry of agreements
“Heads of African countries have flocked to Russia for a first-of-its-kind summit, where Moscow will be offering business ties and security arrangements alternative to ‘colonial-style’ relations with the West.”
https://www.checkpointasia.net/putin-hosts-virtually-all-african-leaders-at-gargantuan-trade-forum-in-sochi/
Just fascinating.
Putin and his remarkable team never stop coming up with new efforts to peacefully channel the course of world affairs and to increase Russia's trade and influence with others.
Building new relationships, offering new services, offering genuine help.
The cancelling of all that African debt, too, is a master stroke.
The Russians and the Chinese are everything today in such international affairs that the United States should have been, but very much is not.
Of course, in some ways, both Russia and China are in special positions to help such countries, given their immense experience in huge infrastructure projects, from dams and nuclear power plants to railroads and agriculture and heavy industries.
Africa is even more interesting today because of its continental free-trade association.
It remains a very important source for a whole range of important minerals, and its population is growing more rapidly than we see anywhere else, offering big future opportunities for trade and investment growth.