The peace mission of six African heads of state who will try to broker a ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine is expected to take place next month. According to a statement by a South African official, African leaders intend to meet the presidents of the two nations.
Details of the trip are being finalized, with plans to visit Moscow and Kiev in early June, director-general of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation Zane Dangor told lawmakers in a virtual meeting on Wednesday . “The six heads of state will move between the two capitals to engage in the facilitation of peace talks to at least reach a ceasefire,” Dangor said. “The initiative was shared with the UN Secretary-General, who also expressed support, and we also engaged with other actors, including the United States. There is general support for this initiative announced by President Ramaphosa”.
According to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have “agreed to receive the African mission and heads of state” in Moscow and Kiev.
South Africa is set to host a meeting of BRICS foreign ministers in early June, as it prepares to host a summit of leaders of the five-nation economic bloc in August. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to attend the June rally.
Naledi Pandor, the South African foreign minister, will meet his Ukrainian counterpart in Portugal in the coming days to discuss the African initiative, Dangor said.
The commander of the South African ground forces was in Moscow on Monday to discuss military cooperation, in the latest in a string of incidents critics cite as evidence of a lean towards the Kremlin. Last week, the US envoy in Pretoria said the US believes weapons and ammunition were loaded onto a Russian freighter that docked at a Cape Town naval base in December.
Indeed, the announcement comes after Ramaphosa said South Africa had come under “extraordinary pressure” to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict following US allegations that Pretoria had supplied arms to Moscow, a move that he would break with his declared neutrality. Ramaphosa said earlier in the week that South Africa would not be drawn “into a competition between global powers” despite facing “extraordinary pressure” to do so. However, this new initiative could help Pretoria rehabilitate its neutrality. [Da Redazione InfoAfrica]
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