Reuters: African leaders will offer Ukraine negotiations with Russia without the withdrawal of the occupying forces

Six heads of African countries will offer Ukraine to start peace talks with Russia, even if the Russian troops remain on Ukrainian territory.

Reuters writes about this with reference to the presidency of the Republic of South Africa.

South African officials want to promote their "peace plan" during visits to Kyiv and Moscow in early June. Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, the Republic of Congo and Senegal also joined this initiative.

At the same time, Ms. Ambassador of Ukraine to South Africa Lyubov Abravitova recalled the words of President Volodymyr Zelensky, who emphasized that there will be no negotiations until Russian troops leave the Ukrainian territory fixed within the borders as of 1991.

However, she added that Ukraine is open to the delegates and will hold meetings with them.

The spokesperson of the US State Department also reacted to the African plan, which "will welcome any successful attempts to persuade the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to end his war."

• A delegation of six African leaders plans to hold talks in Kyiv and Moscow to "initiate a peace process". They plans to discuss how to pay Russia for fertilizers that Africa needs under the sanctions, as well as how to facilitate the transit of agricultural products from Ukraine. In addition, the African leaders will touch on the subject of prisoner exchange.
• In mid-May, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa launched a "peace initiative" to help end the war in Ukraine. For this, he suggested forming an African delegation and visiting Kyiv and Moscow. The Office of the President of Ukraine confirmed that Zelensky welcomed such a peace initiative, is ready to receive African leaders and tell them about his peace formula.
• The US recently accused South Africa of supplying ammunition to Russia via a Russian ship that docked at the Simonstown naval base in Cape Town last December. South Africa denies it. However, as early as December 2022, members of the South African parliament suspected the country of selling weapons to Russia. Then in the evening in the port of Simonstown, a cargo vehicle and container ship Lady R were spotted under the Russian flag. Witnesses saw the vessel unloading and then taking in cargo during one of the countryʼs regular power outages.