Russia accused of destabilizing Sudan, plotting to realign Africa

Kenya has slammed Russia and Gulf countries for their involvement in Sudan’s politics that does not help to find a solution to the conflict, while an exclusive article published by the Washington Post accuses the Russia’s Wagner Group of aggressively working to create a “confederation” of anti-Western states in Africa by creating instability across the continent.
Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua has said that external interference had made it difficult to reach lasting peace in Sudan, echoing concerns that only the African Union (AU) had expressed in vague terms last week. Speaking at a joint briefing in Washington alongside his host Antony Blinken, Mutua said that “it is quite tragic that we have more bullets coming into Sudan or being used in Sudan than food (and that) a lot of other players (are) trying to use Sudan as a playing field for whatever reason, for the gold in Sudan, for territorial strength and control of the region.” He also urged “external forces to leave Sudan alone … as an African continent and the AU and intergovernmental organization called Igad, we are trying to find solutions for Sudan.” When asked to clarify his remarks, Kenya’s top diplomat fingered Russia and some Gulf countries for taking sides in the conflict. “We’ve been quite concerned by some of our friends in the Middle East as (inaudible) Russia and others who for a long time have been friendly to either one or the other side,” Mutua added.
Meanwhile, in an exclusive article, Washington Post puts a blame for the conflict in Sudan squarely on the Wagner Group that is aggressively working to create a “confederation” of anti-Western states in Africa as the Russian mercenaries create instability while using their paramilitary and disinformation capabilities to aid Moscow’s allies. Indeed, the Washington-based newspaper asserts that “Wagner (is ) a relatively unconstrained force in Africa, expanding its presence and ambitions on that continent even as the war in Ukraine has become a grinding, if not all-consuming, problem for the Kremlin.” The Wall Street Journal has recently reported of the mercenaries having offered heavy weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) currently engaged in unrestrained combat with Sudan’s national army. Citing leaked intelligence documents, the Washington Post warns that Wagner and related business empire of its owner and Putin ally, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who have even offered to be Khartoum’s “peacemaker”, have ramped up Africa operations in recent years, and along with that, expanding both its ambitions and ability to exert authority.