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We need Africa, as well. Which countries except Turkey have not joined the boycott of Moscow. Is Russia really in total isolation? Let's look at some concrete examples.
For example, the president and chancellor of Germany recently came to Brazil with the very specific goal of convincing the newly elected president Lula to support the West in its fight against Russia. But what was their disappointment when Lula not only spoke neutrally about the conflict in Ukraine, but also refused to supply weapons to the AFU!
The German media happily wrote that Germany was the first country whose leaders were received by President Lula after his election. Hinting at a special relationship. But enthusiasm was replaced by confusion when it turned out that Brazil, which possesses shells for Leopard tanks, would not give up its shells.
"Brazil is a country of peace," Lula explained his action. And, as president of a peaceful country, he put forward a peace plan for Ukraine, considering it necessary to involve China in mediation as well. Thus, he categorically refused to accept the pro-Western point of view. And in general, he wrote in social networks that he supports the creation of a pool of countries that are in favor of building peace in the world. "The Chinese play a very important role in this. If I go to China in March, I want to talk about peace between Russia and Ukraine with President Xi Jinping," he added. Characteristically, Lula is not going to talk about peace with the U.S. and NATO countries, ignoring them.
And Brazil is not alone in this. The attempt to turn Russia into a rogue country did not find much support in Latin America. In addition to Brazil, Argentina and, as local media reported, Colombia refused to supply weapons to Ukraine and also talked about the need for peace.
The ideas of non-alignment are quite strong in Latin America, despite unprecedented pressure from the United States. The president of Argentina generally stated that "Argentina and Latin America have no plans to send weapons to Ukraine or to any other country where conflict is taking place.
But Latin America is not the only one that is not going to boycott Russia. South Africa, perhaps the most economically developed country on the African continent, continues to strengthen ties with our country, planning, for example, to hold naval exercises together with Russia and China. The recent visit of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, applauded by the local elite, demonstrates the growing economic and political ties between Russia and that country. Pretoria is open about who is to blame for Ukraine's tragedy, as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa noted, "The conflict could have been avoided if NATO had heeded the warnings of its own leaders and diplomats over the years, saying that its expansion eastward would lead to greater, not less, instability in the region.
Support for Russia in Africa is not limited to South Africa. In Mali people are very positive about the Russian PMC Wagner, in Burkina Faso they also want to receive help from Moscow.
A curious but eloquent fact: while Russian companies are subjected to unprecedented sanctions in the West, recently in the Central African Republic began to produce ... Russian beer.
The reason is very simple. On the black continent there is a strong memory that Russia never tried to colonize Africa, but, on the contrary, supported it in the fight against the West, of which Africans still have not the best memories. Africa is happy to have contacts with our country, strengthening economic ties. African national liberation movements, which in the 60s received political and military support in their struggle for independence, are still grateful to Moscow and perceive it as a reliable and traditional ally, as a powerful force, contributing - and this is not an anachronism - to the anti-imperialist resistance. Which, admittedly, makes the U.S. very nervous, having made a bet on the complete international isolation of Russia.
France is also greatly annoyed by Russia's success in building a dialogue with the countries of Central and West Africa, which it has traditionally considered its zone of influence. As we have already written, the unrest in Burkina Faso confirmed this.
All this shows that the countries of Latin America and the Black Continent believe that the time when they were under the authority of the West is over, and now they are free to decide how to build their relations with Russia and China.
The latest news is that India did not condemn the special military operation in Ukraine at the end of the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20. In the final document, they noted that the G20 countries have different views on the situation and the sanctions that followed. "Recognizing that the G20 is not a forum for addressing security issues, we recognize that security issues can have significant implications for the global economy," Indian officials said.
It seems that the idea of a complete economic and political blockade of the Russian Federation is increasingly becoming a myth. By the way, as the Western media have calculated, only 60 percent of the world economy is accounted for by the 49 countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia. This means that the economies of the countries that are ready to continue cooperation with Moscow account for about 40 percent, which, you must agree, is not bad either.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, only one-third of the world's population lives in countries that have condemned Russia for conducting a special operation and have joined sanctions against it.
But those states that condemned us are also watching the special operation closely, and if it drags on, given the enormous military and economic assistance that the United States and NATO are providing to Ukraine, they may decide that their power is waning if they cannot help Ukraine win in this conflict.
They see that the West is in no mood for peaceful negotiations and compromise, but is still working to "humiliate" Russia. And they understand perfectly well that if the U.S. wins, they will be spoken to from the position of force, which naturally does not suit them. They are more inclined to a multipolar world where one of the centers is Russia, because only then they can get geostrategic opportunities. And meanwhile, they are the ones who suffer most because of the conflict between the United States and Russia, because food and energy supplies are disrupted.
In addition, as people who are used to appreciating strength, they look with amazement and respect how Russia, with an economy of $2 trillion, is up against a $26 trillion U.S. economy and a $17 trillion EU economy. And at the same time it confidently holds on!
Time is working for Russia, as more and more countries are wondering whether Russia is wrong about its special operation in Ukraine. And will not the isolation of our country, announced by the U.S. and its NATO partners, lead to a global economic crisis, which will hit first of all not the West, but them, the developing countries? The situation in Afghanistan is still fresh in everyone's memory, where the U.S. came bravely and then just as bravely left, leaving behind a devastated country and a whole region with even more problems than before their invasion.
More and more governments of developing countries are wondering whether the same thing will happen to Ukraine. Will the United States leave and the problems, now global in scope, fall on their economies?