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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was in Russia as part of a peace-seeking delegation, told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the conflict in Ukraine had to stop
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was in Russia as part of a peace-seeking delegation, told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the conflict in Ukraine had to stop. He added that his delegation, consisting of seven African leaders, would like the war to be ended. The war, he stressed, was having a negative impact on the African continent and on many other countries around the world. Earlier, the African heads of state held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
African countries have been divided over their response to the conflict, with some siding with Ukraine, while others have remained neutral or gravitated towards Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave African leaders seeking to mediate in the war in Ukraine a list of reasons why he believed many of their proposals were misguided.
The African leaders were seeking agreement on a series of confidence-building measures, even as Kyiv last week began a counteroffensive to push back Russian forces. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after meeting the African leaders in Kyiv that peace talks would require Moscow to withdraw its forces from occupied Ukrainian territory, something Russia has said is not negotiable.
Putin opened Saturday’s talks with representatives of Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, Congo Republic, Comoros and South Africa in a palace near St Petersburg by stressing Russia’s commitment to the continent. But after presentations from the Comoran, Senegalese and South African presidents, he stepped in to challenge the assumptions of the plan before the round of statements could go any further. Putin reiterated his position that Ukraine and its Western allies had started the conflict long before Russia sent its armed forces over the border in February last year, something they deny. He said the West, not Russia, was responsible for a sharp rise in global food prices early last year that has hit Africa especially hard. He told the delegation that Ukrainian grain exports from Black Sea ports that Russia has permitted for the past year were doing nothing to alleviate Africa’s difficulties with high food prices because they had largely gone to wealthy countries.
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Seven African leaders, including the presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, as well as Egypt’s prime minister and top envoys from the Republic of Congo and Uganda – travelled to St. Petersburg to meet with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin who attended a business forum in Russia’s second-largest city.
