Peskov said that many countries compete in their approaches to the African region, and many states are quite jealous about this trajectory of improving Russian relations with the countries of the continent.
"This is a normal process, this is competition. In order to withstand this competition, we need to work hard, this is a big responsibility and a lot of work," the spokesman told reporters.
On Thursday, Anatoly Antonov, Russian Ambassador to Washington, stated that the US administration is trying to underestimate the significance of the Second Russia–Africa summit, which took place on July 27-28.
"<...> hatred of everything Russian and an irrepressible desire to inflict a strategic defeat on us, including on the "economic front", literally blinded Washington officials. It is precisely this circumstance that explains the attempts of the administration to first disrupt the holding, and now to underestimate the significance of the summit, which brilliantly ended in St. Petersburg," Antonov said.
He added that the US officials still "can't come to their senses from the thought that Russia [...] has announced readiness to supply 25,000-50,000 tons of grain to a number of African countries free of charge in the coming months."
Moreover, the ambassador noted that the Western accusations against Russia for causing a food crisis are "a well-known element of the information war unleashed against our country" and pointed to the important role of the country in ensuring global food security.
On July 27, Putin noted in his summit speech that the Western states hinder the country's cooperation with the continent in terms of procurement of grain and fertilizers and blame Russia for this.