Addis Ababa, 24 February 2022 (TDI): African Union has issued an official statement on the Ukraine crisis.
Incumbent Chair of the African Union President Macky Sall and Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Fakki Mahamd expressed deep concern about the Russia and Ukraine crisis situation. Both call for an immediate ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
Likewise, both African Union officials argued Russia and international actors to respect the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Ukraine. Moreover, they called on all parties to respect International Law.
Statement from Chair of the @_AfricanUnion, president @MackySall and Chairperson of the AU Commission @AUC_MoussaFaki on the situation in #Ukraine : https://t.co/NvG3vpyJfH pic.twitter.com/UwxHjObns2
— African Union (@_AfricanUnion) February 24, 2022
Chairperson of the African Union and Chairperson African also argued with the two parties for an immediate ceasefire. They called on both sides to immediately start the political negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations.
Ukraine Crisis
Amidst arising uncertainty, the attention of the entire world is fixated on Russia and Ukraine as on 24th February, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine at the behest of its Security Council that convened a day before.
Prior to this, a day before, Russia also recognized the Republics of the Luhansk and Donetsk, much to the West’s chagrin. The Donetsk and Luhansk are a part of the Donbas region that is pro-Russia territory.
Recently, Western countries had been alleging Russia about troops’ deployment on the border of Ukraine. However, Russia had been denying the allegations by claiming that it has no intention to invade Ukraine.
One of the main issues of contention between Russia and the EU/US is NATO’s beefed-up defenses in northeastern Europe and Ukraine’s intent to join NATO. A series of negotiations were held between Russian and Western counterparts to avert escalation. Though, that indelibly failed.
According to Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s stance regarding Ukraine is a matter of principle. In this context, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that if attempts to come to terms on mutually acceptable principles fail, Russia will adopt an appropriate response.
Au contraire, the Ukrainian authorities had been alerting the world about a possible invasion. Throughout 2021 and 2022, Russia and the West had been engaged in a diplomatic tussle related to Ukraine.
The West kept accusing Russia of a military buildup on the border of Ukraine whilst Russia kept objecting to NATO’s expansionist agenda that is considered a threat to its strategic security.
Consequently, tensions escalated between the two countries and led to strained bilateral relations. Moreover, despite the United States and EU sending strong messages to warn Russia, the threat of economic isolation couldn’t deter Russia to compromise on what it considers its national interest.
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