The Senegalese president announced yesterday that he will travel to Russia and Ukraine on behalf of the African Union, which he currently chairs, following an invitation from Moscow and the desire expressed by the Ukrainian president to meet with African leaders.

According to the News to the Minute, Sall said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that he had received a mandate from the African Union to make the trip.

Russia had extended an invitation to that effect, he said. The trip, initially scheduled for May 18, could not take place "for scheduling reasons," and therefore proposed new dates, the Senegalese President said.

"As soon as it is settled, I will of course go to Moscow, and also to Kyiv, and we have also agreed to meet all the heads of state of the African Union who wish to do so, of course, with the (Ukrainian, Volodymyr) President Zelensky, who had expressed the need to communicate with African heads of state," Macky Sall revealed.
"This will also happen in the coming weeks," he added. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has divided African countries and also hit their economies hard, with rising grain prices and fuel shortages, for example.
Senegal, with strong relations with Western countries, surprised on March 2 by abstaining in a UN General Assembly vote in favor of a resolution demanding "that Russia immediately stop using force against Ukraine."

Senegal, on the other hand, voted on March 24 for a second resolution demanding that Russia immediately stop the war. Almost half of the African countries abstained or did not vote on both occasions.