Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called Africa "a hostage" of Russia's war during an address to the African Union (AU) on Monday.
Russian soldiers patrol at the port of Mariupol on 12 June. Photo: AFP
Russia's invasion, and its blockade of Ukraine's grain exports, has sparked grain and fertiliser shortages and put millions of people at risk of hunger.
AU's chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat called for the "urgent need for dialogue" to restore global stability.
Western countries have urged Russia to release Ukraine's vast grain stores.
The blockade has sparked warnings that tens of millions of people are at risk of famine and it has sent food prices soaring.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called Russia's blockade a "real war crime".
"Africa is actually a hostage ... of those who unleashed war against our state", Zelensky said during an address to the African Union.
He said his government was engaged in "complex negotiations" to unblock grain reserves trapped in Ukraine's Black Sea ports.
"This war may seem very distant to you and your countries. But the food prices that are catastrophically rising have already brought [the war] to the homes of millions of African families," Mr Zelensky added.
Following Zelensky's address, Mahamat said: "We reiterated the AU position of the urgent need for dialogue to end the conflict to allow peace to return to the region and to restore global stability."
Borrell met with EU foreign ministers on Monday to discuss the crisis.
Ahead of the meeting in Luxembourg, Borrell said: "This is a real war crime, so I cannot imagine that this will last much longer."
In a news conference, Borrell said Russia's blockade of Ukrainian grain exports was "a deliberate attempt to create hunger in the world".
According to Borrell, EU foreign ministers will be contacting their counterparts across the African continent about sanctions on Russia.
He rejected Russia's claim that the current food crisis is a result of EU sanctions, adding that EU sanctions "don't forbid" countries outside of the EU from taking place in food trade practices with Russia or other countries.
"I want to insist that it's not European sanctions that are creating this crisis - our sanctions don't target food, don't target fertilisers.
"The problem comes from the Russian blockade of Ukrainian grains."
The 27-nation bloc disputes Russia's claims that rising prices and food shortages in the Middle East and Africa are down to EU sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said that "Russia must stop playing with global hunger" as it seeks leverage on the West.
"Leaving cereals blocked is dangerous for stability in the world," Colonna said.
The head of the Polish prime minister's office, Michal Dworczyk, spoke with Ukrainian infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov about changes that will speed up checks for trucks on the Polish-Ukrainian border to help export more grain from Ukraine.
In other developments:
- BBC