The Senegalese Head of State calls to release cereal stocks whose blockage in Ukraine “particularly affects African countries”.
Le Monde with AFP
The Senegalese president, Macky Sall, President in office of the African Union (AU), went on Thursday June 2 in Russia to speak with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Friday in Sochi, indicated his services in a statement. This visit “is part of the efforts that the UA exercise presidency is to contribute to the lull in the war in Ukraine and to the release of cereal and fertilizers’ stocks whose blocking particularly affects countries Africans, “they said.
The visit takes place at the invitation of Mr. Putin, they add. Mr. Sall will be accompanied by the president of the AU committee, the Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat. “In the same spirit, the AU has accepted the request of President Volodymyr Zelensky to send a message to the organization by videoconferencing, the date and terms of which will be agreed by mutual agreement,” they say.
In a message sent to leaders of European countries gathered in Brussels on Tuesday, the Senegalese president asked to do everything “to release the stocks of available cereals” in Ukraine but blocked due to the Russian offensive, which organizes a blockade in the Black Sea and prohibited access to the port of Odessa. He spoke of “the catastrophic scenario of shortages and generalized prices”. He stressed that the current crisis follows that of the COVID-19 and that it has already aggravated hunger in Africa.
“The worst is perhaps before us”
“The worst is perhaps before us,” he said, recalling that many African countries, including his, are strongly dependent on the regional cereal imports. He was also worried about the consequences of European sanctions excluding Russian banks from the International SWIFT system, a secure messaging platform allowing crucial operations such as fund transfers.
Senegal, strong relations with Western countries, had surprised, on March 2, abstaining during a vote of the UN General Assembly in favor of a resolution which required that “the Russia immediately ceases to resort to force against Ukraine “. Senegal, on the other hand, had voted on March 24 a second demanding resolution of Russia an immediate stop of the war. Almost half of African countries had abstained or had not voted during the two votes.
m. Sall had explained during a meeting with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in Dakar at the end of May, that the conflict “affects” Africans but takes place “on another continent”. However, he said “condemn the invasion”, more explicitly than in the past.