Four African presidents and three representatives are due to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv before heading to Russia on Saturday
Russia launched its largest missile attack on Kyiv in weeks in what Ukraine says was meant as a “message” to African leaders who arrived in the country’s capital with a peace mission.
“Russian missiles are a message to Africa: Russia wants more war, not peace,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
A delegation of African presidents and senior officials on a peace mission in Ukraine on Friday visited Bucha, the site of an alleged massacre by Russian troops, according to AFP.
South African “President Cyril Ramaphosa and other African Heads of State and Government participating in the African Leaders Peace Mission at the St Andrew’s Orthodox Church in the City of Bucha”, the South African presidency tweeted along with a video of the visit.
Four African presidents and three representatives are due to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv before heading to Saint Petersburg on Saturday to meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The high-profile diplomatic team hopes to bring to the table the voice of a continent that has been badly hit by rising grain prices and the wider impact on global trade since Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
According to the draft of the peace agreement seen by Reuters, the African leaders would suggest Moscow withdraw its troops from Ukraine and remove its tactical nuclear weapons from Belarus. In exchange Russia would be reportedly offered the suspension of implementation of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant targeting President Vladimir Putin and easing of sanctions.