The president of South Africa claims that many other nations as well as the African continent are feeling the “negative impact” of the war.
The war in Ukraine must end, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin while they were in Russia on a delegation seeking peace.
Ramaphosa outlined the ten principles of the African peace plan, which seeks consensus on a number of “confidence-building measures” even as Ukraine last week launched a counteroffensive to drive back Russian forces.
This conflict must come to an end. Ramaphosa stated this in St. Petersburg on Saturday at the 18th-century Konstantinovsky Palace. “It must be resolved through discussions and diplomatic measures.
He continued, “We came with a very clear message: that this war has to be ended.” His group, which was made up of seven African leaders.
According to Ramaphosa, “this war is adversely affecting the African continent as well as many other countries around the world.”
During the opening remarks by African leaders aiming to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, Putin interrupted them to give a litany of reasons why he thought many of their suggestions were incorrect.
He repeated his stance that the crisis had been initiated by Ukraine and the West long before Russia put its armed men across the border in February of last year. He claimed that despite Kiev’s efforts to scuttle negotiations, Russia has never rejected the Ukrainian perspective.
Leaders from Egypt, the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Zambia, Uganda, and Comoros are also included in the group. The group spoke with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, on Friday in Kiev.
Following their discussion, the leader of Ukraine declared that peace negotiations with Russia would only be feasible following Moscow’s withdrawal of its military from Ukrainian territory under occupation.
Azali Assoumani, the president of Comoros and the current chairman of the African Union, told Putin, “We have come to listen to you and through you to hear the voice of the Russian people. We intended to nudge you toward starting talks with Ukraine.
African nations have taken varying positions on the conflict; some have sided with Ukraine, while others have remained neutral or leaned toward Moscow.
When the African leaders met with Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine asked them to pressure Putin to free political prisoners as a way to foster trust.
Putin said to the visiting leaders, “We welcome the reasonable response of African friends to the Ukraine problem. “We are open to constructive dialogue with all those who seek peace based on the values of mutual respect and justice.”
The Russian leader also said that exports of Ukrainian grain under a contract guaranteeing its safe passage via the Black Sea did not help Africa’s concerns with high global food costs, since only 3% of the grain exported to the poorest nations.
According to Putin, the food crisis was brought on by Western nations’ activities rather than what Russia refers to as a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, declared on Saturday that there looked to be “no chance” of prolonging the agreement that allows Ukraine to ship grain securely across the Black Sea through Russian-controlled waters.
Peskov told the Russian news source Izvestia, “It’s hard to predict any final decision here, but I can say that, judging de facto by the status quo that we have, this deal has no chance.”
While many were skeptical that the peace mission could result in a breakthrough between Russia and Ukraine, Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem reported from Moscow that some claim African leaders’ expertise with internal and regional problems may be able to come up with a “out of the box solution”.
But this dilemma is multidimensional and interconnected, which is why it’s so difficult to understand. Everyone is attempting to have their say about it, whether they are Americans, Europeans, or Chinese, and it doesn’t seem like the problem will be resolved very soon.
