‘ROAD TO PEACE’: AFRICAN LEADERS KICK OFF PEACE MISSION

Thu 15 June 2023:

Warsaw, Poland: The ‘road to peace’ is now well underway, with President Cyril Ramaphosa arriving at the Warsaw Chopin Airport on Thursday for a working visit to Poland, Ukraine and Russia.

President Ramaphosa is leading a delegation that includes Heads of State from Zambia, the Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Senegal and Uganda in a bid to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia.

President Ramaphosa and his counterparts are, over the next few days, expected to lead the African peace mission, which will see the President of Ukraine, Volodymr Zelensky, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, sitting on the negotiation table.

President Ramaphosa previously said the aim of the mission is to hear from both leaders what it will take to bring an end to war, which broke out in February last year.

President Ramaphosa has stated that the African Heads of State have been involved in discussing the peace initiative over a number of months.

“The first thing that we discussed among ourselves is that we want to listen to both sides. They need to outline to us their own perspective on the war, as well as what are their minimum requirements for bringing the conflict to an end.

“You should listen to where the parties are coming from and where they are, and also where they want to go. Having done so, we will be able to give a good perspective in terms of how we see this war having an impact on Africa in relation to food and grain prices.

“We will also look at the impact it is having on Europe and the rest of the world. It has become a rather global conflict. It is in that context that we will say we desire that there should be peace, and this being our peace mission, we will essentially be seeking for peace and a commitment from both sides that they too should seek for peace to end this conflict,” the President said last week.

Upon arrival, the delegation is expected to make its way to Ukraine, where they will meet with President Zelensky’s government and then proceed to Russia, where they will sit with President Putin.

Both President Putin and President Zelensky have welcomed the African leaders’ mission to persuade Ukraine and Russia into talks that could see the war ending.

Last week, President Ramaphosa said both Presidents have said to the African Heads of State that they are ready to negotiate.

President Ramaphosa reiterated that conflicts of this nature have “such an overriding impact on the lives of people”. As such, the President said, leaders should negotiate and “lay out precisely what they see as an end game”.

– SAnews.gov.za

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