The current president of the African Union (AU), and head of the Senegalese state, Macky Sall has called on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin "for a lasting ceasefire in Ukraine, he announced on the social network Twitter.
"I welcome my meeting this morning with President Putin, in my capacity as chair of the African Union, to seek a lasting ceasefire in Ukraine," Sall wrote on his account.
"I welcome your willingness to maintain dialogue for a negotiated outcome to the conflict," he mentioned via his social network, Twitter.
The African Union had, in a statement issued on February 24, called on Russia and "any other regional or international actor to imperatively respect international law, the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Ukraine."
At the time, he urged Russia and Ukraine for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of negotiations under the auspices of the UN.
On September 28, he expressed concern over reports that African citizens fleeing the fighting were being prevented from crossing the border, and said that such refusals "would be shocking and racist and violate international law."
Since then, Senegal, which has strong relations with Western countries, surprised the international community on March 2 by abstaining in a UN General Assembly vote in favor of a resolution that "demands that Russia immediately cease the use of force against Ukraine."
The text was overwhelmingly approved by 141 countries, with five votes against and 35 abstentions, including China from among the organization's 193 members.
Almost half of the African countries abstained or did not participate in the vote. One of them, Eritrea, voted against.
While expressing "its grave concern over the situation in Ukraine," Senegal reaffirms its "adherence to the principles of non-alignment and the peaceful settlement of disputes," according to a Council of Ministers communiqué issued the same day.
Dakar also expressed its displeasure with Kiev on Thursday, calling on it to withdraw a call to fight in Ukraine and to stop all recruitment from Senegal following the announcement that 36 people had been enlisted to help in the war against the Russians.
Source: Lusa