Putin, African Union head meet Friday to discuss food crisis

• Washington and Brussels have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow.
• Putin will receive Senegalese President Macky Sall, who chairs the African Union.
• The UN has said Africa faces an “unprecedented” crisis caused by the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will host the African Union’s Secretary-General on Friday for talks on grain supplies and political cooperation, amid the Kremlin’s standoff with the West over Ukraine.

Washington and Brussels have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow in response to the Ukrainian offensive, forcing Putin to seek new markets and strengthen ties with African and Asian countries.

Cereal prices in Africa, the world’s poorest continent, have risen due to a drop in Ukrainian exports, exacerbating the impact of conflict and climate change and fueling fears of social unrest.

On Friday, Putin will receive Senegalese President Macky Sall, who chairs the African Union, at his Black Sea residence in Sochi.

The visit is aimed at “freeing up stocks of cereals and fertilisers, the blockage of which particularly affects African countries”, along with easing the Ukraine conflict, Sall’s office said on Thursday.

Sall will be accompanied by the president of the African Union Commission.

The Kremlin said talks would address “issues of Russia’s interaction with the African Union, including the expansion of political dialogue, economic and humanitarian cooperation.”

“The current international agenda” will also be discussed, it added.

Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine and a barrage of international sanctions on Russia have disrupted supplies of fertiliser, wheat and other commodities from both countries, pushing up prices for food and fuel, especially in developing nations.

Read more: Food purchases harmed by EU bank penalties: African Union leader

Ships loaded with grain remain blocked in Ukraine, which before February was a leading exporter of corn and wheat and alone accounted for 50 percent of world trade in sunflower seeds and oil.

Putin has said that Moscow is ready to look for ways to ship grain stuck in Ukrainian ports but has demanded the West lift sanctions.

Food prices in Africa have already exceeded those in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab springs and the 2008 food riots.

The UN has said Africa faces an “unprecedented” crisis caused by the conflict.

Sall had earlier urged European Union leaders to help ease the crisis on key commodities and said their decision to expel Russian banks from the SWIFT financial messaging system could hurt food supplies to the continent.

Sall however acknowledged that Russia’s blockade of the Ukrainian city of Odessa had harmed food exports, and backed UN-led efforts to free the port.

In 2019, Putin hosted dozens of African leaders in Sochi in a bid to reassert Russia’s influence on the continent.

Though it was never a colonial power in Africa, Moscow was a key player during the Soviet era, supporting independence movements and training a generation of African leaders.

Russia’s ties to Africa deteriorated after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and China has emerged as a key foreign power on the continent in recent years.

Read more: Putin’s invasion is causing a worldwide food crisis