President of  the Republic of  Senegal Macky Sall  Addresses General Assembly Debate at United Nations in New York September 24, 2021 (UN Photo / Cia Pak)

By  Gary  Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS    –    NEW   YORK  –    Senegal’s President Macky Sall is scheduled to travel to Russia and Ukraine on behalf of the African Union, of which he is president.  President Sall’s trip had been initially planned to take place  on May 18 but did not happen  due to scheduling issues.  A specific new date has not been announced as of yet,  with the Senegalese government saying only that it will happen “soon”.  It will be interesting to see what kind of message Mr. Sall will convey to Russia as leader of the AU considering African nations are bitterly divided on Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.  Last March, Senegal abstained from voting on a UN resolution — that was  overwhelmingly adopted — calling on  Russia to withdraw from Ukraine.  However, nearly half of the African nations abstained or did not vote in the two resolution votes. On Mar. 2,  some 17 African countries abstained from the UN General Assembly vote.  Eritrea was the only African country that voted against the resolution, joining Belarus, North Korea, Russia, and Syria.  Africa is hurting economically as a result of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.  Russia’s invasion has hit African economies hard with the resulting surge in cereal and cooking oil prices and fuel shortages. Africa is facing a potential food crisis as the war continues.   Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has worsened the food security crisis in many African countries, Human Rights Watch said last month.  “Many countries in East, West, Middle, and Southern Africa rely on Russia and Ukraine for a significant percentage of their wheat, fertilizer, or vegetable oils imports, but the war disrupts global commodity markets and trade flows to Africa, increasing already high food prices in the region,”  Human Rights Watch said. 

Diplomatic Times asked the UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson at Tuesday’s press briefing at UN world headquarters in New York if the Secretary‑General would convey to the AU that more African nations should condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  The Secretary-General’s spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric responded:

 “It’s… far be it for the Secretary‑General to tell President Macky Sall what to say or what to do during his diplomatic efforts, nor is it for him to tell countries how to vote in General Assembly.  I think what the head of the African Union represents is a group of countries that is being severely impacted by the food and energy crisis and the fertilizer crisis that the Secretary‑General is trying to address.”