South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, leading an attempt at African mediation, told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday that “the war must end” in Ukraine. “It must be resolved through negotiations and diplomatic means,” Ramaphosa said when received by Putin in St. Petersburg.
“The conflict “has a negative impact on the African continent and of course on many other countries around the world,” he added. The delegation, made up of members from seven African countries, “came with a clear message: this war must end.” insisted Ramaphosa.
When receiving the delegation in Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky ruled out the mediation attempt on Friday and highlighted the priority of the counteroffensive launched by his country to recover territories that Russia seized from the start of the military operation. in February 2022.
“Any kind of negotiation with Russia, when the occupier is on our land, would amount to freezing the war, freezing pain and suffering” and would be a “deception” that can serve Moscow, he declared.
The mediation mission is made up of Ramaphosa and his counterparts from Senegal, Zambia and Comores, as well as senior Congolese, Ugandan and Egyptian representatives.
It should be recalled that Kiev was rocked on Friday morning by explosions from Ukrainian air defenses responding to a missile attack launched by Russian forces shortly after a delegation of seven African leaders arrived by train in the Ukrainian capital to meet with Zelensky.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
