Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reached out to the African Union (AU) to seek support in his country’s conflict with Russia.
AU Chairperson and Senegalese President Macky Sall says he spoke to the Ukrainian President on the phone and noted his request to address the African Union.
Africa has been divided over the condemnation of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
Sall has tweeted to confirm he discussed with Zelenzkyy on “the need to favour dialogue for a negotiated outcome to the conflict.”
The AU has urged the two parties to establish an immediate ceasefire and to open political negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations. Ukraine has not received unanimous support from African countries since the war began.
In the 7 April vote in the United Nations General Assembly that suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, 24 African countries including Senegal abstained. Nine others voted in favour of the resolution and nine voted against.
Kenya, having openly called out Russian aggression against Ukraine in February, abstained in the April vote against Moscow. South Africa is among the countries that have taken a neutral stance in the conflict from the onset.
SA is one of the countries that abstained from the UN vote:
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has said wars in Europe are “disturbing the world” and that Africa is giving the European countries advice on how to de-escalate. The African Union is yet to confirm if it will allow President Zelensky to address the assembly as per his request.
