The head of the African Union has appealed to Russia to find a route to what he called ''peaceful co-existence'' with Ukraine.

AU Chairperson Azali Assoumani, who is president of the Comoros, was speaking on Thursday at an international conference that brought together African leaders and others in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.

Sharing the stage with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azali said he had no choice but to note that the future of the Africa-Russia partnership will be "under threat" should the Russia-Ukraine conflict persist.

Concerns about a possible food crisis have been mounting since Russia last week announced its pullout from a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea.

Putin remarked that "Russia can well fill in the gap left by the withdrawal of the Ukrainian grain from the global market, either by selling its grain or by transferring it for free to the neediest countries in Africa."

He added that in the next three to four months, Russia "will be ready to provide, free of charge, a supply of 25,000-50,000 tonnes of grain each to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea, delivered at no cost."

Putin's comments may be seen as an attempt to woo African nations as part of his efforts to counter Western countries.

Meanwhile, Russian forces have repeated attacks in Ukraine's southern region of Odesa, home to the ports that load grain cargo onto ships.

Odesa's governor said in a social media post on Thursday that a cruise missile strike on port infrastructure killed a security guard and damaged a cargo terminal.

In response to a question from a Russian journalist, Putin said on Thursday that fighting along the front in Ukraine has entered an "intensive phase" over the past few days, with the clashes primarily concentrated in the Zaporizhzhia sector.

Putin added that Ukraine "has not succeeded in any of the sectors of combat activity.'' He claimed all attempts of the counteroffensive had been "stopped."