KYIV, Ukraine
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Africa was a “hostage” in the war with Russia, which had contributed to rising food prices on the continent.
African countries are acutely
affected by the growing crisis, which has sent prices of grains, cooking oils,
fuel and fertiliser soaring.
Russia and Ukraine account for
nearly a third of global wheat supplies, while Russia is also a key global
fertiliser exporter and Ukraine is a major exporter of corn and sunflower oil.
In a speech to African Union leaders,
Zelenskiy said the continent had been caught up in a situation not of its
making.
“(I) address you in a state of
emergency, when we have a war. In an emergency for the whole world, when Africa
is actually taken hostage. Hostage of those who started the war against our
state,” Zelenskiy said in a video speech to the Bureau of the Assembly of the
African Union.
“This war may seem very
distant to you and your countries. But catastrophically rising food prices have
already brought it home to millions of African families.”
Moscow rejects accusations it
is deliberately blocking grain exports from Ukraine and says global food and
fuel price hikes are due to Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the Feb.
24 invasion, which it calls a “special military operation”.
In early June, Senegal’s
President Macky Sall said Russia’s Vladimir Putin had told him he was ready to
enable the export of Ukrainian grain to ease a global food crisis that was
hitting Africa especially hard.
On Monday, Sall, who is also
the chairman of the African Union, said on Twitter after Zelenskiy’s speech the
continent remained committed to respecting international law, peacefully
resolving conflicts and free trade. - Reuters
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