According to Senegalese President Macky Sall, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has requested a meeting with the African Union.

Sall, the current leader of the 55-member continental council, addressed a phone contact he had with Zelenskyy on Monday night in a tweet.

“The necessity to favour conversation for a peaceful settlement to this problem” was also discussed by the two.

Thanks to President @ZelenskyyUa for his call today,” he said in a statement sent by his office. During our meeting, we addressed the economic consequences of the situation in Ukraine, as well as the need of favouring discussion to reach a peaceful resolution. His wish to communicate with the AU was also noted by me.”

African nations have been relatively quiet in their condemnation of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine so far due to Moscow’s strong ties to the continent dating back to Cold War times.

Russia was expelled from the UN Human Rights Council earlier this month by the United Nations General Assembly. A majority of African nations voted against the resolution, with nine voting nay and another 23 abstaining.