African leaders call on Putin to withdraw

The current head of the African Union (AU), Senegal’s President Macky Sall, has made a call to Russian President Vladimir Putin to urge him to withdraw his troops and to negotiate a “lasting” ceasefire in Ukraine.

The second to make such a call, with President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt being the first, Sall said he was speaking on behalf of the African Union in making the call.

In a tweet, Mr Sall said: “As president of the African Union, I am delighted about my talk this morning with President Putin to press for a lasting ceasefire.

“I commend him for listening and for his willingness to maintain dialogue for a negotiated outcome to the conflict.”

Mr Sisi’s office said his talks with Mr Putin focused on the Ukraine crisis, and on strengthening relations between the two nations.

The AU had issues a statement on February 24 calling for Russia to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as for the upholding of international law.

The West African regional bloc Ecowas has said that it too had condemned the invasion, however it is known that not all members of the AU or the bloc are critical of the invasion. South African for one and in particular the ANC ruling party have reiterated their support for Russia, drawing the ire of the Germany Embassy who recently tweeted “shame on you”.

It is not clear whether the African leaders call to Putin made any difference, or whether any concrete assurances were given by the Russian president.

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