Nairobi – African Union Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat told Russia on Tuesday that international law must be respected in the war in Ukraine and appealed for dialogue to end the conflict.
Faki, who heads the executive branch of the pan-African body, said on Twitter that he had received a phone call from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“I stressed for the need to respect international law and urged for dialogue for a peaceful solution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” he said in a brief post.
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His comments came after Lavrov acknowledged “another phase” of the conflict was beginning as Moscow launched dozens of air strikes across eastern Ukraine overnight.
The African Union in February was swift to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Faki and the bloc’s current chair, Senegalese President Macky Sall, saying the situation risked escalating into a “planetary conflict”.
However, many African countries have shown their support for Russia, or at least diplomatic ambivalence.
On March 2, members of the UN General Assembly voted massively to condemn the invasion of Ukraine. But out of the 35 countries that abstained, nearly half – 16 – were in Africa. Eritrea voted against the resolution, while another eight African countries did not cast votes.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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