The leaders of seven African countries hoping to end the war in Ukraine traveled to Russia on Saturday to hold peace talks with Vladimir Putin but received a largely negative response.
The African delegation, which included the presidents of the Comoros, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, in addition to the prime minister of Egypt and the very best envoys of the Republic of Congo and Uganda, went to St. Petersburg on Friday after visiting Ukraine.
The self-proclaimed “peacekeeping mission” was the primary of its kind by the leaders of African countries that depend on war-hindered exports of food and fertilizer from Ukraine and Russia.
“This conflict is having a negative impact on Africa,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said at a news conference along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and 4 other African leaders after closed-door talks on Friday.
“I think Ukrainians feel they’ve to fight and never hand over,” he said. “The road to peace may be very difficult.”
“There may be a necessity to end this conflict sooner quite than later,” added Ramaphosa.
![This photo taken by RIA Novosti on June 17, 2023 shows Senegalese President Macky Sall (C) at a meeting between the Russian President and delegations of African leaders at the Konstantin (Konstantinovsky) Palace in Strelna near St. Petersburg.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012826965.jpg?w=1024)
A gaggle of African leaders, particularly, come from countries which have taken a unique stance on Russia and the war in Ukraine.
Egypt, Zambia and the Comoros voted against Russia in last 12 months’s United Nations Assembly resolution condemning the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, while South Africa, Senegal and Uganda escaped condemnation from Moscow over the conflict.
![This photo, taken by RIA Novosti on June 17, 2023, shows South African President Cyril Ramaphos meeting the Russian President with delegations of African leaders at the Konstantin (Konstantinovsky) Palace in Strelna near St. Petersburg.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012827175.jpg?w=1024)
On Saturday, after presentations by the leaders of the Comoros, Senegal and South Africa on the group’s 10-point peace plan, and before other delegations submitted their prepared comments, Putin paused to query the plan’s assumptions.
He maintained that Ukraine and the West began the conflict long before Russia invaded in February 2022 and blamed the West for the sharp increase in global food prices last 12 months.
Putin claimed that Ukraine’s grain exports from Black Sea ports, which Russia allowed under an agreement reached last 12 months, do nothing for Africa because they go to wealthy countries as an alternative. And he claimed that Russia has never refused peace talks with Ukraine.
![Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (centre), accompanied by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (right), listens to Comoros President Azali Assoumani as he addresses the media after the talks in Kiev, June 16, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012816330.jpg?w=1024)
Russia is “open to a constructive dialogue with anyone who wants to establish peace on the idea of fairness and recognition of the legitimate interests of the parties,” Putin said.
Russia has repeatedly said that any deal must reflect the “recent realities”, which is the annexation of 5 provinces in eastern Ukraine.
Throughout the group’s visit to Kiev, Zelensky reiterated that peace talks will only be possible after Moscow withdraws from the occupied territories, including Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2019.
During his visit to Ukraine, Zelensky asked African leaders to persuade Putin to release political prisoners from Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.
“Could you ask Russia to release political prisoners?” Zelensky said. “Perhaps this will likely be a very important final result of your mission, your ‘road map’.”
With Postal Wires