Russia Never Refused Talks with Ukraine, Putin Tells African Leaders

The former Prime Minister of Uganda, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda and other African leaders have held peace talks with the President of Russia, H.E Vladimir Putin, in a move aimed at ending the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

The high-level meeting was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Dr Rugunda is the Special Envoy representing President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in the mediation process.

The delegation of African leaders from seven African countries is on a peace mission to resolve the conflict that has negatively affected the world economy.

The delegation led by South Africa President H.E Cyril Ramaphosa first held discussions with Ukraine’s President H.E Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy where they advised the warring parties to settle the war through negotiations and diplomatic means.

Putin first welcomed leaders from Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, Congo Republic, Comoros and South Africa to the 18th-century Konstantinovsky Palace on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, stressing Russia’s commitment to the continent.

“We are embarking on this mission to promote peace between Russia and Ukraine. We are here to listen, as we did yesterday to President Zelenskyy and through you the Russian people, and encourage you to enter negotiations with Ukraine in order to put an end to the difficult ordeal,” Ramaphosa said in his opening remarks.

“We recognise the sovereignty of countries in terms of the UN Charter. This war must be settled, through negotiation and through dialogue. We gave ourselves this mission because, as Africans, unfortunately, we have had to manage numerous conflicts, and it’s through dialogue and negotiations that we have succeeded at resolving them,” he told Putin.

In response, Putin said Russia had never refused talks with the Ukrainian side which had been blocked by Kyiv.

Putin reiterated his position that Ukraine and the West had started the conflict long before Russia sent its armed forces over the border in February last year.

He said the West, not Russia, was responsible for a sharp rise in global food prices early last year.

He told the delegation that Ukrainian grain exports from Black Sea ports that Russia has permitted for the past year were doing nothing to alleviate Africa’s difficulties with high food prices because they had largely gone to wealthy countries.

The mission to Ukraine, the first of its kind by African leaders, comes in the wake of other peace initiatives — such as one by China — and carries particular importance for Africa, which relies on food and fertiliser deliveries from Russia and Ukraine.

The war has impeded exports from one of the world’s most important breadbaskets.

The African plan includes a call for all children caught up in the conflict to be returned to where they came from, but Putin said Russia was not preventing any Ukrainian children from returning home.

“We took them out of a conflict zone, saving their lives,” he said.

Putin said Russia was “open to constructive dialogue with anyone who wants to establish peace on the principles of fairness and acknowledgement of the legitimate interests of the parties”.

The other African leaders who are on the peace mission include; H.E Macky Sall- the President of Senegal, H.E Azali Assoumani – President of Comoros who also doubles as the current Chair of the African Union (AU), H.E Hichilema Hakainde- the President of Zambia, H.E Mostafa Madbouly- Prime minister of Egypt and a Special Envoy representing the President of Congo Brazzaville.

Additional Reporting By Reuters/AP