The head of the African Union called for the withdrawal of Russian grain from sanctions

Russian grains and fertilizers should be removed from Western sanctions in order for African countries to have access to them, Senegalese President and African Union President Maki Sall said during a meeting with his counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi. A fragment of the meeting was broadcast by the Russia-24 TV channel.

“There are two main problems - the crisis and the sanctions , we need to work together to resolve these two problems so that food and fertilizer are removed from the sanctions,” Sall said.

Sanctions against RUSSIA have deprived African countries of access to Russian grains, especially wheat, and fertilizers, Sall said. "This has implications for Africa's food security," the Senegalese leader said.

Putin said that Russia intends to develop relations with Africa as a whole and with individual countries of the continent.

“We are at a new stage of development, we attach great importance to our relations with African countries. And I must say that this has a certain positive result. Our trade turnover is growing, <...> by 34% in the first months of this year. We are striving to develop humanitarian ties and will do everything in our power to make this process gain momentum,” Putin said.

Sall stressed that he has high hopes for bilateral cooperation between Russia and Africa. According to him, in the current international situation in connection with the events in Ukraine, many countries of the continent, despite great pressure, did not condemn Russia. At the same time, states far from the conflict still experience its influence, Sall pointed out.

The President of Senegal is not the first African politician to note that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and sanctions have affected the region. Foreign Minister of Mali Adboulay Diop, who met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on May 20, pointed out that Western sanctions directly affected the food situation in the world. Diop noted that "sanctions only complicate the situation."

Putin, during talks with some European leaders at the end of May, said that Russia was "unreasonably accused of problems with the supply of agricultural products to world markets." He said that in exchange for lifting the restrictions imposed on the country, Moscow is ready to increase the supply of Russian fertilizers and agricultural products.