U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday discussed food security under the ongoing Ukraine conflict in a phone call with Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission.

“Ukraine provides vital food supplies to the world market, and we agreed on the need for vessels to be allowed safe passage to and from Ukraine’s ports,” Blinken tweeted.

Mahamat visited Moscow last week and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the issue of worsened food crisis caused by anti-Russia sanctions among other topics.