South African President Cyril Ramaphosa – who is in Russia as part of a peace-seeking delegation – told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the war in Ukraine must stop.
Ramaphosa laid out the 10 points of the African peace initiative that is seeking agreement on a series of “confidence-building measures” – even as Ukraine last week began a counteroffensive to push back Russian forces.
“This war has to have an end… It must be settled through negotiations and through diplomatic means,” said Ramaphosa in St Petersburg on Saturday at the 18th-century Konstantinovsky Palace.
He added his delegation, consisting of seven African leaders, “came with a very clear message: that this war has to be ended”.
“This war is having a negative impact on the African continent and indeed, on many other countries around the world,” Ramaphosa said.
Putin interrupted opening remarks by African leaders seeking to mediate in the Ukraine conflict to deliver a list of reasons why he believed many of their proposals were misguided.
He reiterated his position that Ukraine and the West had started the conflict long before Russia sent its armed forces over the border in February last year. He said Russia had never refused talks with the Ukrainian side, which had been blocked by Kyiv.
The group also includes leaders from Egypt, the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Zambia, Uganda and Comoros. On Friday, the delegation held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
Ukraine’s leader said after meeting the leaders that peace talks with Russia would be possible only after Moscow withdrew its forces from occupied Ukrainian territory.
“We have come to listen to you and through you to hear the voice of the Russian people,” said Comoros President Azali Assoumani, who currently heads the African Union, told Putin. “We wanted to encourage you to enter into negotiations with Ukraine.”
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.
During their meeting with Zelenskyy, the Ukraine president requested the African leaders push Putin to release political prisoners as a confidence-building measure. Al Jazeera
