What that meant for Prigozhin's Wagner Group mercenaries and Moscow's operations in Africa was much discussed in the corridors of the summit usually out of earshot of the Russian delegation headed by foreign minister Sergei Lavrov...

Hosting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the State House in May Ruto called for a trade pact with Moscow...

On 26 June Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was on hand to tell the state-run RT station that a discontinuation of Wagner's presence specifically in Mali and the Central African Republic was out of the question...

WAGNER'S NEXT ACT IN AFRICA It is too early to conclude much about how Yevgeny Prigozhin's putsch in Russia might affect Wagner's operations in Africa but these factors could shape diplomatic and security developments: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov long distanced from Putin's inner circle may claw back some influence with Moscow's diplomats attempting to reassert their authority and credibility overseas after the embarrassing developments on 23-24 June...

As illustrated by Hemeti's visit to Moscow in February 2022 and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's visit to Khartoum a year later Russia has warm relations with both generals...

The recent hosting of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the joint naval exercises with Russia and China to coincide with the first anniversary of the invasion undermine South Africa's claim to neutrality but it brings other benefits (AC Vol 63 No 9 War offers Ramaphosa more options & Vol 63 No 11 Diplomacy on ice)...

As this cauldron bubbled Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov came to Khartoum on 9 February not quite overlapping with the Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen who visited Khartoum on 3 February...

Thanking Moscow's 'Eritrean friends for their consistent support of Russian initiatives in the UN ' Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sketched out closer ties between the two countries after meeting with President Issayas Afewerki on 26 January at the end of his four-country tour of Africa (AC Vol 64 No 3 President Putin's Africa summit in July will be key diplomatic test)...

At the beginning of the week South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor hosted her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov giving him a platform to applaud what he called Pretoria's 'well balanced' and 'considerate approach' towards Moscow on Ukraine (AC Vol 64 No 2 Moscow's goals are global not local)...