By Dikeledi Molobela
Warsaw, Poland: President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday paid a courtesy visit to Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw, ahead of the African Peace Initiative Mission.
This as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has affected Poland, which shares borders with the two nations.
“The African Peace Mission brings an African perspective and an appeal for a peace process to deliberations underway in various parts of the world and within different nations on how to address the conflict in Ukraine and Russia,” the President said.
Having arrived in Poland on Thursday afternoon, the President is participating in the initiative aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two European states.
International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Dr Naledi Pandor, and the President’s Special Envoy, Dr Bejani Chauke, accompanied the President.
While the Presidents of Congo Brazzaville, Egypt and Uganda have sent their representatives, President Ramaphosa, along with the Presidents of Zambia, Senegal and the Comoros are proceeding to the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv by train for deliberations on Friday with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The mission is made up of leaders from South Africa, Zambia, the Comoros, Congo Brazzaville, Egypt, Senegal and Uganda.
The African countries are representatives of a continent that has felt the adverse economic impact of the conflict.
On the eve of the mission, President Ramaphosa described the tension arising from the conflict between Ukraine and Russia as a "grave situation" that affects everyone in an interconnected world.
In recent weeks, President Ramaphosa has had a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Zelensky, Chinese President Xi Jinping, BRICS leaders and the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) regarding efforts to broker peace in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, in line with South Africa’s standing as a non-aligned state.
Later tomorrow, South Africa's First Citizen will leave Kyiv for St Petersburg, Russia, where the African delegation will engage with President Putin on Saturday, 17 June.
“We are pleased and encouraged by the openness with which the two Presidents have undertaken to engage with African leaders on this matter.
“From our own experience, it is at times of escalated conflict that a search for peace must be equally accelerated. This peace initiative should be seen as complementing other peace initiatives that other parties have put forward. The strength of this mission is that African leaders will be engaging with both parties,” the President said.
President Ramaphosa is scheduled to return to South Africa on Sunday. – SAnews.gov.za
