MOSCOW – African Union chief Macky Sall said on Friday he was “reassured” after talks in Russia with President Vladimir Putin over food shortages caused by Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine.
Putin received the Senegalese president, who chairs the African Union, at his Black Sea residence in Sochi on the 100th day of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine. Global food shortages and grain stocks stuck in Ukrainian ports were the order of the day.
“I found Vladimir Putin committed and aware that the crisis and the sanctions create serious problems for weak economies like African economies,” Sall told reporters, adding that he left Russia “very reassured and very satisfied with our exchange.
Ahead of the talks, which lasted three hours, Sall urged Putin to “recognize that our countries, even if they are far from the theater (of action), are victims of the conflict economically.”
He said it was important to work together to make “everything food, grain, fertilizer really available” Western sanctions imposed on Moscow after Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24.
In his remarks to reporters ahead of the talks, Putin made no mention of the grain shipments, but said Russia was “always on the side of Africa” and now wanted to step up cooperation.
“In the new stage of development, we attach great importance to our relations with African countries, and I must say that this has had a certain positive result,” Putin added.
Putin made no statement after the talks.
Washington and Brussels imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow and urged Putin to seek new markets and strengthen ties with countries in Africa and Asia.
The Kremlin said the two leaders discussed expanding “political dialogue” between Russia and the African Union, as well as economic and humanitarian cooperation.
‘EXHAUSTIVE EXPLANATIONS’
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Putin’s spokesman said the Russian leader would explain to Sall “the real situation” regarding grain stocks stuck in Ukrainian ports.
“Nobody is blocking these ports, at least not on the Russian side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Putin said Moscow was ready to explore ways to ship grain stranded in Ukrainian ports, but urged the West to lift the sanctions.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected in Turkey next Wednesday for talks on creating a “security corridor” to unblock grain exports from Ukraine.
Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine and a series of international sanctions against Russia have disrupted shipments of fertilizers, wheat and other staples from both countries, and driven up food and fuel prices.
Grain prices in Africa, the world’s poorest continent, have soared as exports from Ukraine have collapsed, worsening the impact of conflict and climate change and fueling fears of social unrest.
The United Nations has said Africa faces an “unprecedented” crisis caused by the conflict.
On Thursday, the landlocked country of Chad in central Africa declared a “food emergency” and appealed to the international community for help.
Ships loaded with grain remain stranded in Ukraine, which before February was a leading exporter of corn and wheat, accounting for 50% of the world’s trade in sunflower seeds and oil alone.
Navigation in the Black Sea has also been hampered by mines laid by Russian and Ukrainian forces.
In 2019, Putin hosted dozens of African leaders in Sochi to reaffirm Russia’s influence on the continent.
Although never a colonial power in Africa, Moscow was a key player on the continent during the Soviet era, supporting independence movements and educating a generation of African leaders.
Russia’s ties with Africa declined with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and in recent years China has emerged as a major foreign power on the continent.
- AFP
