Siyabonga Mkhwanazi
President Cyril Ramaphosa has touched down in Poland on his way to Ukraine to meet with his counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy together with five other African leaders on a peace mission.
Ramaphosa will travel to Kyiv on Friday where he will meet with Zelenskyy. He will then travel to St Petersburg to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
Ramaphosa, with the president of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi; president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni; leader of Congo-Brazzaville, Denis Sassou Nguesso; leader of Zambia, Hakaiinde Hichilema; and the president of Senegal, Macky Sall, agreed to lead the peace initiative from Africa to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
The meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy followed months of preparations.
Ramaphosa said they welcomed the fact that both the two leaders had accepted the peace mission.
“We are pleased and encouraged by the openness with which the two presidents have undertaken to engage with African leaders on this matter. From our own experience, it is at times of escalated conflict that a search for peace must be equally accelerated. This peace initiative should be seen as complementing other peace initiatives that other parties have put forward. The strength of this mission is that African leaders will be engaging with both parties,” said Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa had said the war in Ukraine has an impact on the African continent in terms of food security. But the six leaders wanted both Putin and Zelenskyy to meet around the table to find a lasting solution.
South Africa has been under pressure from the US after allegations by its ambassador, Reuben Brigety, that Pretoria sold arms to Russia. But the allegation was denied by Pretoria.
There have been frantic efforts by South African officials to meet with the US officials to explain the country’s non-aligned position.
South Africa has also been threatened with being kicked out of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). Four US congressmen wrote to the Biden administration to remove the Agoa summit from South Africa to another country. They accused South Africa of siding with Russia,
The Agoa summit is due to be held in November.
Ramaphosa arrived in Warsaw on Thursday where he met with the president of Poland, Andrzej Duda. From Poland he will travel to Kyiv and then St Petersburg.
Current Affairs