War in Ukraine sparks food-security fears
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President Macky Sall of Senegal holds negotiation talks with Putin
The Senegalese President Macky Sall, who is also the current chairman of the African Union (AU), Wednesday had a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “seek a lasting …
The Senegalese President Macky Sall, who is also the current chairman of the African Union (AU), Wednesday had a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “seek a lasting ceasefire” in Ukraine.
The African Union had, in a statement issued on 24 February, called on Russia and “any other regional or international actor to imperatively respect international law, territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Ukraine”.
He had urged Russia and Ukraine for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of negotiations with the help of the UN.
Senegal, which has strong relations with Western countries, surprised the international community on 2 March by abstaining in a UN General Assembly vote in favor of a resolution that “demands that Russia immediately ceases the use of force against Ukraine”.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has told the UN it will repatriate its 250 peacekeepers deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The withdrawal will include all its military contingent, including personnel, helicopters and equipment from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Monusco).
Ukraine also has a military presence in other UN peace missions around the world: 16 personnel in South Sudan, 12 in Mali, 5 in Cyprus, 4 in Abyei in Sudan and 3 in Kosovo, according to the UN.
UN Countries divided over Russia Ukraine War
Africa was divided at Wednesday’s UN General Assembly, which has adopted a resolution deploring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and calling for the immediate withdrawal of its forces. Eritrea was one of …
Africa was divided at Wednesday’s UN General Assembly, which has adopted a resolution deploring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and calling for the immediate withdrawal of its forces.
Eritrea was one of only five countries in the world that voted against it in the rare emergency session following more than two days of debate.
Its UN mission said it respects each country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, but wanted windows for diplomacy to remain open. The country opposed all forms of unilateral sanctions as “illegal and counterproductive” as Eritrea had been subject to such sanctions by the West for two decades and they only “hurt innocent people and undermine the road to peace”.
The 54-member African bloc accounted for 17 of the 35 countries that abstained from voting on the General Assembly resolution calling on Russia to “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces” from Ukrainian territory.
These included the Central African Republic and Mali, where Russian mercenaries and troops are helping the governments fight insurgencies.
Uganda said it had abstained to uphold its “neutrality” as the incoming chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (Nam), a forum of 120 developing countries set up to stop their members from becoming pawns in Cold War power games.
the EU ambassador to South Africa queried on Twitter why South Africa had abstained. Clayson Monyela, South Africa’s head of public diplomacy, accused the bloc of having double standards, saying it should also condemn other aggressors in the Palestinian territories, Yemen, Syria, Libya and Somalia.
Eight countries – including two that have recently witnessed coups, Burkina Faso and Guinea – did not vote at all.
Ethiopia, where a civil war has raged since November 2020 that has involved Eritrean soldiers fighting alongside Ethiopian troops, also did not vote. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tweeted that his country was closely following events: “We urge all parties to exercise restraint in the #Ukraine crisis.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is still ongoing. A Cameroonian student in the Russian-captured city of Kherson has said that he and his friends are terrified of going out, saying the southern Ukrainian port is now like a ghost town.
Russia attacks Ukraine, sparks re-actions all over the world
Russia launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with air strikes or shelling as civilians crammed into trains and cars to flee. The Ukrainian government said …
Russia launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with air strikes or shelling as civilians crammed into trains and cars to flee. The Ukrainian government said Russian tanks and troops had crossed the border and accused Moscow of unleashing a “total war” that could rewrite the geopolitical order and whose repercussions are already being felt around the world.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday launched a military operation in Ukraine to defend separatists in the east of the country. “We will strive to achieve demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine,” he said. The Kremlin said the operation, aimed at imposing a “neutral status” on Ukraine, would last as long as necessary, depending on its “results” and “relevance”.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kouleba, announced the start of a “large-scale invasion of Russia”. This operation is aimed at “destroying the Ukrainian state, seizing its territory by force and establishing an occupation”, his ministry added.
Ukrainian military sites
The Russian army, which said it was targeting Ukrainian military sites with “high-precision weapons”, claimed to have destroyed anti-aircraft defence systems and put Ukraine’s air bases “out of action”. Russian ground forces entered the Kiev region from Belarus to attack military targets, Kiev said.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country’s troops were “not taking any part” in the Russian operation. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the separatists have advanced three kilometres in the Donetsk region and one and a half kilometres in Lugansk.
Deaths in Ukraine
At least 40 soldiers and a dozen civilians were killed, according to Kiev. A Ukrainian military plane crashed near Kiev with 14 people on board, authorities said. The Ukrainian army also said it had shot down five Russian army planes and a helicopter and killed about 50 “Russian occupiers” in the east of the country.
Authorities in the Odessa region also said 18 people had been killed in a village by strikes, but it was not clear whether these casualties had been included in the overall toll. A series of explosions were heard in Kiev, where bombing sirens sounded.
Explosions were also heard in Kramatorsk, a city in the east that serves as the Ukrainian army’s headquarters, in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city near the Russian border, in Odessa on the Black Sea, and in Mariupol, Ukraine’s largest city near the front line.
Cascading condemnations
The United States, NATO, the European Union, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Finland, Sweden and Turkey, among others, have condemned the attack. The United States will table a draft resolution at the UN Security Council on Thursday condemning Russia for its “war” in Ukraine, while China says it “understands the concerns” of Russia.
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers will hold an “extraordinary meeting” on Thursday afternoon. The leaders of the 27 EU countries are due to hold a summit on Thursday evening. Nato has activated defence plans and is planning a video conference summit on Friday.
Promises of “massive” sanctions
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that the West would impose “massive” sanctions against Russia. The EU is preparing a new package of sanctions that is the “toughest ever”, its diplomatic chief Josep Borrell said.
The price of a barrel of oil rose above $100 on Thursday for the first time in more than seven years. European stock markets fell by as much as 5% by midday, while grain prices hit record highs on the European market, with wheat peaking at 344 euros a tonne on Euronext.
