African leaders issued a direct appeal on Friday to Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his war against Ukraine.
“This war must end. And it can only end on the basis of justice and reason,” Moussa Faki Mahamat — foreign minister of Chad and current African Union Commission chairman — told Putin on the second day of a Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg.
Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso said an African peace plan “deserves the closest attention, it mustn’t be underestimated … We once again urgently call for the restoration of peace in Europe.” Senegal’s President Macky Sall also called for “a de-escalation to help create calm,” while South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he hoped that “constructive engagement and negotiation” could end the conflict.
In response to the forceful African demands, Putin said: “We respect your initiatives and we are examining them carefully.”
In mid-June, Ramaphosa presented Putin with the African peace initiative, which includes a 10-point plan to end the war. Putin has so far shown little interest in any attempts to curtail his aggression in Ukraine.
Faki Mahamat also demanded that Putin renew the Black Sea grain deal — which he killed off in mid-July — as African leaders worry about rising food prices. “The disruptions of energy and grain supplies must end immediately. The grain deal must be extended for the benefit of all the peoples of the world, Africans in particular,” he said.
On Thursday, Putin ruled out renewing the grain deal deal, yet promised small shipments of free grain to six African countries — Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea — as he attempts to curry favor with the Global South after being isolated by most Western leaders.