WASHINGTON, June 19. /TASS/. Russia's turn toward African countries may prove to be one of the most critical consequences of the conflict in Ukraine, Vuk Vuksanovic, professor at the London School of Economics, said in an article published on Sunday in US foreign policy magazine The National Interest.

"Overall, Russia’s turn towards the Global South, including and especially Africa, may turn out to be one of the most defining legacies of the Ukraine war. The Global South countries may not wield the financial heft of the Western economies, but their landmass, population, and resources make them important partners for non-Western powers like Russia and China. This is something that Western policymakers ought to keep in mind," said Vuksanovic, who studies contemporary foreign policy.

In his opinion, "the dynamics of Moscow’s engagement with Africa is notable; partially for geopolitical concerns, partially for economic competition considerations, and partially because they help highlight what many in the West believe is a policy failure: the inability to inflict more severe economic damage on Russia is in part driven by the fact that the rest of the world was not willing to follow the West’s lead." "Given that African nations are still developing and that Russia’s primary economic goal in the short and medium term is withstanding the impact of Western sanctions, there is a limit to Moscow’s economic engagement with the continent. However, Russia and African nations will use any opportunity to boost economic ties," the expert emphasized.

Russia, he stressed, "has demonstrated a keen interest in Africa, where it increasingly seeks to involve itself in a number of industries." Among these areas, the expert named logistics, finance, mining, agriculture, oil and gas, the defense industry, nuclear energy, tourism and pharmaceuticals.