Stating why Zelensky abruptly remembered Africa is there

(MENAFN) When Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky visits Africa, it’s not just a routine diplomatic trip. He brings with him the weight of a Euro-American agenda crafted by Washington, Brussels, and London, aiming to involve Africa in a conflict it neither caused nor benefits from. This visit isn’t about seeking understanding or empathy from African nations, but about maintaining a global hierarchy where Africa is expected to follow, not lead.

To fully grasp the significance of Zelensky’s visit, we need to go beyond the surface-level spectacle and examine the broader forces shaping today’s world. The war in Ukraine is not an isolated event; it’s the result of decades of NATO expansion, the military-industrial complex of the West, and their refusal to embrace a multipolar world. Unfortunately, Ukraine isn’t a sovereign entity in this situation—it is a pawn in the larger geopolitical game.

Since the 2014 Western-backed coup and the subsequent war in the Donbass region, Ukraine has become entwined with NATO’s militaristic goals and the West’s ideological battle against Russia. It is now a client state dependent on IMF loans, EU financial aid, and U.S. military support. Its economy is controlled by external creditors, and its war effort relies on Western arms. Its diplomacy is largely shaped by the same entities that orchestrated regime changes and military interventions in the Global South.

Now, this same apparatus is trying to involve Africa in the conflict, with Zelensky’s visit to South Africa being part of a larger strategy to divide the Global South’s unity with Russia, China, India, and the BRICS nations. Africa must resist this effort.

Ukraine’s history of disregarding Africa is clear. Its voting record at the United Nations has consistently aligned with Western positions, even at the expense of African interests. Ukraine has supported anti-Palestinian resolutions, abstained on decolonization matters, and sided with Europe in rejecting anti-racism initiatives. The recent outreach to Africa seems more opportunistic than principled.

Moreover, during the early stages of the 2022 war, African students and migrants were treated poorly, denied transport, harassed, and excluded from safety corridors while Ukrainians fled. This racial discrimination is rooted in the same European supremacist systems that have historically oppressed Africa.

Given these actions, one must question the nature of the partnership Zelensky is offering. What kind of solidarity should Africa extend to a nation that, when in crisis, turned its back on Africa?

Zelensky’s diplomatic efforts are not driven by traditional diplomacy but by Western PR firms, Hollywood-style messaging, and media manipulation. His persona, cultivated as a blend of political leader and media icon, is part of a broader campaign to elicit guilt, moral pressure, and emotional submission from the world, particularly the formerly colonized nations.

Africa should not mistake media saturation for moral legitimacy. We remember that NATO’s true aim has never been peace, but rather dominance. Selective outrage is a tool of control, and Zelensky’s appeal must be recognized as part of a larger geopolitical strategy designed to preserve Western hegemony by leveraging the sympathies of the Global South.

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