US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in South Africa on Sunday and will later visit the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda as part of a tour aimed at countering the influence of Russian diplomacy on the African continent, AFP reported, citing Agerpres.

The visit came shortly after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s African tour in July.

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, South Africa, a leading developing country, has taken a neutral position in the conflict, refusing to join Western calls to condemn Moscow.

Anthony Blinken will meet South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor on Monday and announce the US executive branch’s new strategy for Africa, Pretoria said in a statement.

According to a statement from South Africa’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the discussions “will cover recent and current developments in the global geopolitical situation.”

Anthony Blinken aims to show “African countries that they play a vital geostrategic role and are important allies on the most pressing issues of our time, from promoting an open and stable international system to combating the effects of climate change, food insecurity and global pandemics,” he said. State Department at the end of July.

After South Africa, Secretary of State Blinken will travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and then to Rwanda, which is facing renewed tensions with its Congolese neighbor, which it accuses of supporting the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels. Kigali denies the allegations.

This is the second trip of the US Secretary of State to sub-Saharan Africa since taking office. Last year he visited Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal.

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, American diplomacy in Africa was focused primarily on countering the influence of China, which has made significant investments in infrastructure on the African continent and which, unlike the United States, did not adhere to the standards of these states in matters of democracy or human rights. rights