African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat hailed the grain export deal that Russia and Ukraine signed separately in Istanbul on Friday with Turkey and the United Nations.
“The chairman of the commission congratulates all parties on this successful development,” said a statement issued in Addis Ababa on Friday evening.
The AU Commission Chairperson also commended Senegalese President Macky Sall, AU Chairman-in-Office, for calling for the resumption of grain shipments from Russia and Ukraine to world markets.
Sall’s visit to Russia and Ukraine last month may have played a positive role in the final deal, Faki said.
Russia and Ukraine are the breadbaskets of the world, producing almost a third of the wheat and barley and half of the sunflower oil. Russia is also one of the world’s leading exporters of fertilizers and the raw materials needed to produce them.
