President of Senegal and current chairman of the African Union (AU), Macky Sall, who is also the current chairman of the African Union, Wednesday had a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to seek a lasting truce in Ukraine.
On February 24, the African Union issued a statement calling on Russia and “any other regional or international actor to imperatively respect international law, territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Ukraine”.
He urged the Russian Federation and the Ukraine Republic to reach an immediate ceasefire and open frameworks for negotiations with the assistance of the UN.
Senegal, which has strong relations with Western nations, surprised the international community on March 2 by abstaining in a UN General Assembly vote in favour of a resolution that “demands that Russia immediately ceases the use of force against Ukraine”.
Political pundits say, while a united African voice in opposition to Russia would be a powerful one, a number of countries are likely to be disinclined to publicly detach themselves from Moscow given their strategic military ties.
Over the past few years, Russia has built a number of military alliances with governments in African countries facing violent insurgencies or political instability, including Libya, Mali, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Mozambique.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has informed the UN of its intention to repatriate its 250 peacekeepers deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The withdrawal which is necessitated by the ongoing impasse in the country will include all its military troops, including personnel, helicopters, and equipment from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO).
Ukraine has a military presence in other UN peace missions around the world, this includes 16 personnel in South Sudan, 12 in Mali, 5 in Cyprus, 4 in Abyei in Sudan and 3 in Kosovo.
