KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday is about to host a gaggle of African leaders who’ve traveled to Russia on a self-styled “peace mission” the day after they went to Ukraine.
Seven African leaders – presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, in addition to Egypt’s prime minister and prime envoys from the Republic of Congo and Uganda – visited Ukraine on Friday to attempt to assist finish the practically 16-month-old warfare.
The African leaders then traveled to St. Petersburg Saturday to satisfy with Putin who’s attending a enterprise discussion board in Russia’s second-largest metropolis.
Speaking on the discussion board on Friday, Putin declared that the primary Russian tactical nuclear weapons have been deployed to Belarus, describing the transfer as a deterrent in opposition to Western efforts to defeat Russia in Ukraine. He beforehand stated that the deployment would start in July.
Asked if he might order using battlefield nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Putin stated that there was no want for that however famous that Moscow might use its nuclear arsenals in case of a “threat to the Russian statehood.”
“In that case, we will certainly use all the means that the Russian state has. There should be no doubt about that,” he stated.
The mission to Ukraine, the primary of its form by African leaders, comes within the wake of different peace initiatives – similar to one by China – and carries explicit significance for Africa, which depends on meals and fertilizer deliveries from Russia and Ukraine. The warfare has impeded exports from one of many world’s most vital breadbaskets.
“This conflict is affecting Africa negatively,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa stated at a information convention alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and 4 different African leaders after their closed-door talks on Friday.
Ramaphosa and others acknowledged the depth of the hostilities however insisted all wars should come to an finish and emphasised their willingness to assist expedite that.
“I do believe that Ukrainians feel that they must fight and not give up. The road to peace is very hard,” he stated, including that “there is a need to bring this conflict to an end sooner rather than later.”
The delegation, together with Senegal’s President Macky Sall and Presidents Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia, characterize a cross-section of African views on the warfare.
South Africa, Senegal and Uganda have averted censuring Moscow over the battle, whereas Egypt, Zambia and Comoros voted in opposition to Russia final 12 months in a U.N. General Assembly decision condemning Moscow’s invasion.
Many African nations have lengthy had shut ties with Moscow, relationship again to the Cold War when the Soviet Union supported their anti-colonial struggles.
Speaking throughout Friday’s information convention, Comoros President Azali Assoumani floated the concept of a “road map” to peace, prompting questions from Zelenskyy who sought a clarification and insisted he didn’t need “any surprises” from their go to with Putin.
Chances for peace talks look dim as Ukraine and Russia take sharply completely different stands. Ukraine calls for that Russia withdraws its troops from all its occupied territories as a situation for peace talks. The Kremlin, in flip, needs Ukraine to acknowledge Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as a part of Russia and acknowledge different land features it has made.
China offered its personal peace proposal on the finish of February. Ukraine and its allies largely dismissed the plan, because the warring sides look no nearer to a cease-fire.
The African peace mission comes as Ukraine launches a counteroffensive to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from occupied areas, utilizing Western-supplied superior weapons in assaults in a number of sections of greater than the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) entrance line.
___
Follow AP’s protection of the warfare in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com