AA/Axil Ouali
After his meeting last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Senegalese Head of State and President-in-Office of the African Union (AU), Macky Sall, went to Paris on Friday, where he was received by his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to discuss the wheat crisis in Ukraine.
The Senegalese president returned today, during his meeting with his French counterpart, to the content of his discussion with Putin to whom he pleaded the cause of Africans threatened with famine. According to details provided by the Elysée, the two officials discussed at length the discussions with President Putin. Officially, according to the same source, Vladimir Poutine wants to be able to make sure that the commercial ships which would enter the port of Odessa to load the cereals do not take advantage of it to deliver weapons to the Ukrainians.
But the principle of Russian inspections in Ukrainian territorial waters is rejected in the name of sovereignty, both by Ukraine and by the allies. On the other hand, inspections might be carried out by UN agents who would act as trusted third parties here.
The Élysée also made it known that several other problems were raised between Macky Sall and Emmanuel Macron, in particular the demining of the port of Odessa by the Ukrainians or at least a mapping of the mines so that the bulk carriers avoid explosives.
To this end, Putin proposes “safety corridors” for Ukrainian wheat. “He also proposed other schemes that may not be of interest to Ukraine, such as crossing the Danube or Belarus and even through Mariupol, where Putin has also pledged to set up secure corridors. “revealed Macky Sall in an interview with Figaro.
The other difficulty lies in the availability of boats to venture into Ukraine to transport the goods. “For the moment, they are not available,” said the Elysée, also stressing the difficulty of finding insurance companies ready to take the risk of insuring carrier ships in this war zone.
But these are not the only obstacles. It will be necessary to ensure that the wheat extracted from Odessa is not sold to the highest bidders, but to the populations most exposed to shortages and at affordable prices.
“That is the meaning of the FARM Initiative (Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission), which we launched on the sidelines of the G7 meeting and the NATO summit. […] On these points, Macky Sall was quite receptive, ”said the Elysée. And the French Presidency added: “What interests President Macron in his contacts with each other is to lay the foundations for joint action that meets everyone’s needs both in terms of security and in terms of international solidarity to be able to manage the effects of this crisis”.
Friday, June 3, Macky Sall had met President Putin and he told him that “Africa is the continent most affected by the war in Ukraine”. Practically all African countries are importers of Russian and Ukrainian wheat, including Egypt, the largest importer of this product, with more than 12.8 million tonnes per year.
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