Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairman of the African Union Commissions, issued a short tweet on April 19 about his conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov: “I received a call from Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. I stressed for the need to respect international law and urged for dialogue for a peaceful solution to the conflict between #Russia and #Ukraine.”
The tweet is notable for what it does not contain — denunciations, calls for sanctions, trade limitations, or threats to withdraw diplomats. The African Union, reflecting the viewpoint of most of its member states, refuses to be drawn into the simplistic (and dangerous) statements that flow trippingly off the tongues of NATO ministers.
