On the sidelines

Uganda: Museveni unmoved by US plea to condemn Russia

By Musinguzi Blanshe

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Posted on August 5, 2022 18:21

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni walk during their meeting in Entebbe, Uganda July 26, 2022. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni walk during their meeting in Entebbe, Uganda July 26, 2022. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

Despite a decade-long alliance with the West, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni appeared unmoved by this week’s visit from US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield as Washington looks to pull Kampala to its side in its dispute with Russia over the Ukraine invasion.

Thomas-Greenfield’s 4 August social call came less than a week after a historic visit by Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, the first high-ranking Russian official to ever set foot in Uganda. His visit has been viewed as a diplomatic victory for Moscow.

From the onset of Russia’s war on Ukraine in February, Uganda has said it was taking a neutral stand. As the West has continued to push Museveni both publicly and behind the scenes to condemn Moscow, however, the Ugandan leader has expressed support for President Vladimir Putin and espoused the Russian line that the invasion was prompted by the perceived threat of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

Defending Russia

In an interview with the BBC that aired this week, Museveni argued that Russia had long been provoked by NATO.

“In the case of Ukraine, I had two questions, because the Western countries were saying NATO

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