By Dikeledi Molobela
Warsaw, Poland: President Cyril Ramaphosa has successfully held an audience with both Russian and Ukrainian leaders putting forward ten key elements of the African Peace Mission Initiative, despite numerous challenges the South African security personnel encountered in Poland.
The African Peace Mission leaders from the continent met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
President Ramaphosa along with Senegal President Macky Sall, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema and Comoros President and Head of African Union Azali Assoumani represented the seven countries participating in the peace mission.
At a meeting with Putin on Saturday, President Ramaphosa, who has always maintained that conflict must be resolved through negotiation and peaceful means, called for an end to the war in Ukraine.
President Ramaphosa was warmly received by President Putin and he thanked the Russian leader for agreeing to meet with the African leaders.
He tabled the peace missions' 10 points that had also been put forward at a meeting with President Zelenskyy on Friday, saying it was important to listen to what both leaders had to say.
"We are a seven-nation peace initiative and we are essentially on a peace mission to try and promote peace between Russia and Ukraine in this conflict.
"We are here to listen, as we did yesterday to President Zelenskyy. He outlined a number of issues to us and we did tell him that we would be meeting you where we would also listen to your perspective on this war."
Reiterating his message to President Zelensky, President Ramaphosa said the African leaders wanted to listen with "respect and recognition of the views that you will put forward to us”.
The President said it was important for the mission to recognise the number of proposals put forward by key players in the world. He said Africa’s proposals are not in competition with the other proposals that have been put forward.
He articulated Africa’s stance to President Putin stating that Africa believes the war should be settled through negotiations and diplomatic means.
"The war cannot go on forever. All wars have to be settled and come to an end at some stage. We are here to communicate a very clear message that we would like this war to be ended. We say so because this war is having a negative impact on the African continent and indeed many other countries in the world.
“As a continent we are being negatively affected in terms of our economies, prices of commodities have gone up, particularly grain and fertilizer, and prices of fuel have also gone up. This is a consequence of a war that is ongoing. It is in our collective interest that the war should come to an end,” he said.
Africa wants to see a de-escalation of the conflict on both sides as it does not enhance the peace process.
"We recognise the sovereignty of other nations in terms of the UN Charter and yes, in terms of that charter, we believe that all of us should work in terms of internationally recognised principles and it is for that reason that we would like to submit that we recognise the sovereignty of countries in terms of that Charter."
Just like he did during his meeting with President Zelensky, President Ramaphosa called for a guarantee of safety for all countries, for the movement of grains across the Black Sea and humanitarian support be provided to victims of war.
The African leaders called for the release of prisoners of war on both sides and further urged for the return of children to their families.
"There should also be post war construction and we should support the reconstruction that needs to take place beyond this war.”
President Ramaphosa said they had articulated this point to President Zelenskyy and he agreed that the African continent can play a role.
The African continent, he said, made the proposals and contributions with respect to the views put forward but also believing that there is a common position that can emerge and lead to peace.
President Ramaphosa said the Africa Peace Mission was a historic one.
“The African continent represented here through the seven countries has never been involved in a mission of this sort.
"We've taken this step believing that we can contribute and we would like to thank you for giving us the time to listen to what we are presenting but most importantly we want to listen to you,” President Ramaphosa said.
He said the African leaders believed it was time for both parties to negotiate an end to the war as it is causing a great deal of instability and harm to various countries around the world.
President Putin extended his gratitude to the African leaders for their efforts to try resolve the conflict.
"We responded positively to your suggestions on holding negotiations on the Ukrainian dossier. I know that you have ideas and proposals in this regard with the President of the South Africa Republic, we talked about this a lot of times and I am grateful to him for raising this topic and once again I would like to underscore that we are open to constructive dialogue with everyone who wants to see peace based on the principle of just and consideration for the legitimate interests of the party,” he said.
President Putin told the African leaders that his country was preparing for an important occasion - the second Africa-Russia Summit to be held in St Petersburg. He said he was confident that the event would bring about cooperation in political and economic, scientific, technical, humanitarian and other fields.
"I would like to stress in particular that Russia has deep respect for the principled position of African states in favour of promoting global and regional stability, security as well as peace conflict settlement and creating a just mode of international relations.”
He welcomed the “balanced attitude of our African friends with regards to the Ukraine crisis” and told the delegation that he valued their efforts in wanting a settlement.
The conflict between Ukraine and Russia dates back to February 2022.
South Africa has taken a stance to abstain from United Nations (UN) resolution to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine because “the resolution did not foreground the call for meaningful engagement” between the two parties.
The resolution was passed at an emergency gathering of the UN General Assembly in March 2022.
Government has repeatedly described its stance as one supporting the emergence of peace between the two countries through negotiation and talks. – SAnews.gov.za
