An African delegation of leaders heading to Ukraine and Russia this week to propose ‘confidence-building measures’ to facilitate peace between the two countries, will make some proposals to Russian president Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
On May 22, the Associated Press reported that a delegation including presidents of South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, the Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Zambia to visit Ukraine and Russia to ‘initiate a peace process’ and discuss the export of Ukrainian grain and Russian fertilizers.
Now, a Thursday, June 15 report by Reuters says a framework document of the proposed measures might include the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, the removal of tactical nuclear weapons from Belarusian territory, and a suspension of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
The group headed by Senegal’s President Macky Sall and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will arrive in Kyiv on June 16 and in Saint Petersburg on June 17, Reuters wrote, referring to an undisclosed framework document.
‘The conflict, as well as the sanctions placed on Russia by major trading partners of the (African) Continent, have had an adverse effect on African economies and livelihoods,’ the document said.
Ceasefire in Ukraine should be followed by negotiations between Russia and the West.
While most of the African countries have claimed neutrality in the war, Moscow has long nurtured good relations with the governments on the African continent.
On June 9, Ramaphosa had a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to brief Beijing about the upcoming visit by seven African leaders to Ukraine and Russia to ‘find a peaceful solution’ to the war in Ukraine.
In addition to Ramaphosa, the delegation includes the Republic of Congo’s Denis Sassou Nguesso, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema and Azali Assoumani, president of Comoros and current chairperson of the African Union.
These heads of state have, according to official South African statements, ‘agreed that they would engage with both President [Vladimir] Putin and President [Volodymyr] Zelensky on the elements for a ceasefire and a lasting peace in the region’.
Ukraine’s stated position for any peace deal is that all Russian troops must withdraw from all of its territory, including the Crimean peninsula occupied by Russia since 2014.
Today, delegation of leaders and senior officials from Africa, including South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, arrived in Ukraine seeking ways to end the invaded country’s near 16-month war with Russia and to ensure food and fertiliser deliveries to their continent.
An air raid in Kyiv during their trip provided a reminder of the challenges they face.
Mr Ramaphosa’s press service said that he was met by a Ukrainian special envoy and South Africa’s ambassador at a rail station near Bucha, the Kyiv suburb where bodies of civilians lay scattered in the streets following Russian forces’ withdrawal last spring.
The Bucha visit was symbolically significant, as its name has come to stand for the barbarity of Moscow’s military since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The African delegation also includes senior officials from Zambia, Senegal, Uganda, Egypt, the Republic of the Congo and the Comoro Islands.
