On 11 April, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the AU and Head of UNOAU, Parfait Onanga-Ayanga met with the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Ethiopia, Yevgeny Terekhin, to discuss Russia’s position vis-à-vis financing of AU-led peace support operations (PSOs).

Yevgeny Terekhin expressed Russia’s support to avail UN-assessed contributions to finance AU PSOs, particularly given the urgent need for regional responses to the increasing peace and security challenges confronting the continent. He added that it would be important to seize the opportunity presented by the forthcoming Secretary-General’s report on the financing of AU PSOs to move forward the AU’s request for sustainable and predictable financing.

The SRSG to the AU and Ambassador Yevgeny Terekhin further discussed the issue of food security on the continent as well as the upcoming Africa-Russian Federation Summit. Ambassador Terekhin informed that the Summit is scheduled to take place from 26 to 28 July in St. Petersbourg, Russia.