The Russia-Africa summit began Thursday – the first time it had been held since 2019. That year, 43 heads of African states attended the summit. But this year, only 17 have joined Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg – a sign of potential unease about aligning too closely with Russia while its war against Ukraine rages on.
Moscow reserves the right to take tough measures in response to a missile attack that wounded more than a dozen people in the Russian border region of Rostov on Friday, a foreign ministry spokesperson said.