Dakar, June 9 (APS) – Macky Sall, current president of the African Union, called for creating the conditions for the export of Ukrainian cereals, in particular wheat, on which African countries that live under the threat of food crisis since the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
“We must now work to get the mines cleared, that the UN get involved” as well as all the stakeholders so that “we start to get Ukrainian wheat out”, said Macky Sall in an interview with RFI and France24.
The AU chairman said his optimism remained intact over the assurances given to him by his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Sochi on June 3, on Ukrainian grain exports.
“No, not at all. I am reassured, I remain optimistic, and I am all the more reassured than what he told me in front of Moussa Faki [président de la Commission de l’UA]his Minister of Foreign Affairs [Sergueï Lavrov] recalled it the day before yesterday, in Istanbul. Russia is committed, if the demining of the waters of the port of Odessa is ensured, if the conditions of control of the boats are made, it will not take any action for the exit of Ukrainian wheat “.
President Sall adds that Russia even undertook to ensure the security of other corridors, if Ukraine wished to use other ports, such as Mariupol.
“Until proof to the contrary, I have no evidence allowing me to contradict this,” he continued.
The Senegalese president has refuted allegations that Vladmir Putin would condition any exit of Ukrainian wheat and fertilizers on the lifting, by Western countries, of sanctions once morest his country.
“No, no, not at all. That is not conditional on sanctions once morest Russia,” he said, specifying that the requirement for the lifting of Western sanctions rather concerned products from Russia. Russia.
“For Ukrainian products, they (the Russians) say that if the port is demined and if it is a matter of transporting cereals by boat and not weapons, obviously Russia will not take any action”, a indicated Macky Sall.
He assures that his Russian counterpart has promised not to take advantage of the demining of ports to land troops.
President Sall reiterated that for access to Russian products, Africa is facing the “difficulty generated by the sanctions on the Swift payment system”, used for the processing of international banking operations.
“As long as our banks are linked to European banks for the most part, they cannot pay as they traditionally did. Whereas when it comes to the Chinese or other countries, Russia continues to trade, even with the United States on fertilizers, even with Europe on gas. But we can’t do it, because of the payment system,” he explained.
According to him, the AU “does not accuse Europe of having imposed sanctions on cereals, but the sanctions on the Swif and on certain oligarchs who are producers of cereals and fertilizers make the banks unwilling not work with them, and suddenly, we have on the one hand the war, and on the other hand the effects that make us have supply difficulties”.
“We simply need, with our European partners, to find a way to overcome these difficulties to regulate the market and ensure a supply of cereals, but above all of fertilizers,” he said.
