Kremlin denies Macron's remarks on Russia being 'destabilizing power' in Africa

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) — The Kremlin on Friday rebuffed recent remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron that Russia was a "destabilizing power" on the African continent.

"Russia is developing its good relations, constructive relations based on mutual respect, on mutual consideration of each other's concerns and problems, with all African countries," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a press briefing in the capital Moscow.

Peskov further underlined that Russia's relations with African nations were not directed "against third countries," noting that the Kremlin would not want these relations to be "a matter of concern to anyone."

Macron had claimed earlier on Friday that Russia is a "power of destabilization" in Africa due to its use of "private militias" that abuse civilians, pointing to UN documents.

Peskov also commented on recent statements by former US President Barack Obama on Crimea, saying they contain a "rational grain."

In an interview with CNN on Thursday, Obama said there was no "armed invasion" of Crimea by Russia due to the high number of Russian speakers on the peninsula and "some sympathy" for the view that Moscow was "representing their interests."

Obama also argued that he and Germany's then-Chancellor Angela Merkel had to push other European countries to impose sanctions on Russia to prevent President Vladimir Putin from "continuing through the Donbas and through the rest of Ukraine."

In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, a move widely viewed as illegal by the international community, including Türkiye and the UN General Assembly.