According to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, have agreed to receive a peace mission by Ramaphosa, who is leading the delegation with the other six African heads of state to end the war between the two countries.
An African leaders’ peace mission to Putin and Zelensky during separate telephone calls was presented by Ramaphosa over the weekend. At a press briefing on the official visit by Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday, the South African president made this announcement
“Principal to our discussions are efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the devastating conflict in the Ukraine, its cost in human lives and impact on the African continent”.
“In this regard, I presented the initiative on behalf of African heads of state, from Zambia, Senegal, Congo, Uganda, Egypt and South Africa,” he stated.
The two respective leaders agreed to receive the mission and the African heads of state in both Moscow and Kyiv, according to Ramaphosa.
“I agreed with both President Putin and President Zelensky to commence with preparations for engagements with the African heads of state”.
“The Secretary General of the United Nations [António Guterres] was briefed and welcomed the initiative,” he stated.
The war in Ukraine has affected the South African government, this was after the fallout from US Ambassador Reuben Brigety’s as he boldly accused the South African that they may have assisted in providing arms to Russia.
Reuben was heavily criticised for publicly claiming that the South African government had a hand in the uprising of the Russian/Ukraine war. The claims will now form the subject of an independent inquiry led by a retired judge.
Brigety tweeted he was “grateful” for the opportunity to “correct any misimpressions left by my public remarks”. This was after the meeting with International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor on Friday,
