MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. The United States is attempting to prevent the Russia - Africa summit scheduled to be held in St. Petersburg in July 2023 and advises African countries against participation in it, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with aif.ru posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website on Tuesday.

"Indeed, the United States and its allies are doing all they can to isolate Russia internationally. For example, they are trying to torpedo the second Russia-Africa Summit scheduled to take place in St Petersburg in late July. They are trying to dissuade our African friends from taking part in it," the Russian top diplomat said.

"However, there are fewer and fewer volunteers willing to sacrifice their vital interests for Washington and its henchmen and to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for the former colonial powers," Lavrov noted. "Attempts to undermine our cooperation with the states of the global South and East will persist, although their success is far from guaranteed," he added.