South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday said leaders from six African nations are planning to travel to Russia and Ukraine to help find a solution to the war, reported Reuters.
Ramaphosa said that he had talked with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian leader Zelenskyy and both have agreed to receive the African peace mission in their respective capitals.
“I agreed with both of them that we would commence with the preparations for the engagements with these African heads of state,” said the South African president.
He said the Secretary General of the United Nations and the African Union office have also been briefed about the African initiative.
Egypt, the Republic of Congo, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia have agreed to be a part of the mission. It will be the latest in a flurry of so-far unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to still the war.
Ramaphosa did not give a time frame for the possible peace talks in Russia and Ukraine. He only said that the conflict had been devastating and African countries are also suffering a great deal from it.
On Monday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed that the South African leader spoke to Secretary-General António Guterres after the peace mission during his visit to Jamaica.
“As we’ve said before, we are in favor of any initiative that could lead us to a peace in line with the (U.N.) Charter, in line with international law and in line with General Assembly resolutions,” Dujarric said.
The announcement came just a few days after accusations from the United States that Pretoria supplied weapons to Moscow.
Last week, Reuben Brigety, the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, claimed that weapons and ammunition were found loaded in a Russian ship last December at a naval base near Cape Town.
The South African government has denied the accusations. It has said the matter is currently under investigation.
