African leaders head to Kiev on a peace talks mission
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The African mission is set to arrive in Ukraine on Friday before heading to St. Petersburg on Saturday.
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Russian President poses alongside African leaders at the Russia-Africa summit in the Black Sea resort, Sochi, Russia, October 24, 2019. (AP)
The delegation of African leaders meant to initiate peace talks between Moscow and Kiev is expected to arrive in Ukraine from Poland by train on Friday, as the Ukrainian counteroffensive carries on.
South African President Cyril Ramaphonsa highlighted the important role that the diplomatic mission has to play since, saying, "It is times of escalated conflict that search for peace must be equally accelerated."
Four African presidents and three representatives are scheduled to meet with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev on Friday as they later depart to Saint Petersburg the next day to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
African nations have been hit hard by increased grain prices due to the Ukrainian crisis as their efforts hope to find solutions to an issue that has strong effects on the world as a whole.
"We are keen to engage with them... to see whether there is a space to come up with joint efforts that would bring peace in Ukraine closer," Ukraine's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko stated.
However, the NATO-backed Ukrainian government has taken a rigid position, refusing to open dialogue with Russia and opting to extend military conflict as it carries out a counteroffensive on Russian positions.
Three leaders, which have previously committed to take part in the mission, dropped out of the trip.
The Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will be unable to attend after he contracted COVID-19 while Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, have opted to send the Prime Minister and the head of the President's office respectively.
The absence of El-Sisi from the delegation is said to have weakened the scope of the initiative, as he is a heavyweight on the African scene, according to a diplomatic source of AFP.
Four of the original participants will take part in the mission themselves: South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa, Senegal's Macky Sall, Zambia's Hakainde Hichilema, and Comoros' Azali Assoumani, who is also the head of the African Union.
On May 16, Ramaphosa announced that the Russian and Ukrainian Presidents have agreed to meet with a delegation of African leaders to discuss a possible peace deal to the Ukrainian crisis.
"My discussions with the two leaders demonstrated that they are both ready to receive the African leaders and to have a discussion on how this conflict can be brought to an end," Ramaphosa told reporters.
However, since then, the situation has escalated as Ukraine secured extra funds and weapon systems which enabled it to launch a large-scale counteroffensive against Russia, which the latter has been able to contain.
The mission is still expected to bring up some important issues during its trip, especially upon meeting with President Putin. The grain deal, which allows grain and fertilizers to be exported from Ukraine to the global market, has been under threat in recent months as Kiev failed to stick to its obligations towards the Russian side.
The African leaders are expected to discuss a possible new deal that would allow for a more viable and reliable flow of grain from Ukraine.
Prisoner swaps and fertilizer exports have also been reported as topics to be discussed with the Russian President in St. Petersburg.
