Lavrov Says France's Attempts to Counter Russian Media Influence in Africa Unpromising

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that Paris' attempts to confront the Russian media influence in Africa are unpromising.

Earlier in the month, the French Foreign Ministry announced plans to create a digital media targeted at the African audience, noting that the purpose of this media is to counter the influence of other media on the continent, especially Russian ones.

"As for attempts to counter the influence of the Russian media on the African audience, this is obviously a unpromising matter: if our point of view on certain problems is interesting on the continent, then no one will be able to block its path to readers, viewers or listeners – and no strategies will change this," Lavrov said.

Last week as part of an African tour, Lavrov held talks with the leadership of South Africa, Eswatini, Angola and Eritrea. During the tour, he told reporters that hybrid wars unleashed by Western countries will not be able to stop the development of new centers of economic and political power. He further noted that "no hybrid wars that the West unleashes, including the one they unleashed in Ukraine, will be able to stop the development of new centers of economic power, financial influence and political influence."