President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged authorities in Ukraine and Russia to find peace via negotiations and diplomatic means.
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Earlier this week, members of the African Leaders Peace Mission led a delegation to meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The delegation comprised President Ramaphosa, heads of state of Zambia, Comoros, Senegal, Congo Brazzaville, Egypt, and Uganda.
‘There should be peace, through negotiations and diplomatic means. We should, as we advance towards that peace because all wars, in the end, do come to an end. And we believe that this war should be brought to an end as quickly as possible through negotiation and diplomatic means,’ says President Ramaphosa.
Bilateral meeting with President Putin #AfricanPeaceMission pic.twitter.com/PeS6HoT0hu
— Cyril Ramaphosa ?? (@CyrilRamaphosa) June 17, 2023
He added that a missile launch on Friday would not deter the group from continuing to call for de-escalation. ‘The third element for us is that there must be a de-escalation of the conflict. Today, as we were here, we heard of missile strikes and those types of activities are not good for fostering peace. We argue that there must be de-escalation on both sides.’
During a joint media briefing on Friday, he outlined the purpose of the delegation, which includes ‘listening to both the Ukraine and Russian Presidents, the war being settled through peace negotiations, security guarantee for all countries, humanitarian support, and post-war reconstruction.’
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He says that African leaders recognise that the sovereignty of nations and countries with regard to the United Nations charter must be respected, and called for a guarantee of security for all countries. ‘What has also brought us here is that Africa is also feeling the negative impact of this war. Our grain prices have gone up and there’s a shortage, fertilizer prices have also [gone] up.
‘So even as we are 1000s of kilometres away as African countries, we are feeling the impact of this war and we say that, when it comes to things like grain and fertilizers, there should be an opening up of the logistics so that grain and fertilizers must get to the market.’
South African leaders also called for humanitarian support for victims of the war. ‘here are people who have become victims of this war who are suffering and we support that humanitarian assistance must be given to those who have become real victims of this war. The eighth key element for us is that the prisoners of war must be exchanged. And that, that there must also be a return of the children to their homes.’
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