(CNN) — An African delegation on a peace mission to Ukraine led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was greeted with explosions and forced to take refuge in bunkers amid airstrikes on the capital, Kyiv.
Ukrainian officials said the attack was repelled by air defenses as the leaders prepared to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday as part of an attempt to negotiate an end to Russia’s war against the country.
African leaders are also expected to travel to Russia this Saturday for talks with President Vladimir Putin.
“The Russian missile attack took place just as the African leaders were arriving in the capital,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, said Friday.
“Putin wants to show that he is willing to ignore the security of foreign leaders. He doesn’t really care, because he feels total impunity. And anyone can be in the shoes of African leaders.”
“We remember that the missiles were also in the air when US President Joe Biden and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrived in Ukraine,” Yermak added in a Telegram post, calling on the world to adopt “ the toughest possible position against Russia.”
Ramaphosa arrived in the country by train on Friday morning with other heads of state, including President Macky Sall of Senegal; President Hichilema of Zambia; President Azali Assoumani, of the Comoros; and representatives from Egypt, Congo and Uganda.
Ramaphosa’s office said of the peace initiative that it is “the first time that Africa is united behind the resolution of a conflict outside our continent, in which there is a group of African heads of state and government traveling together in a attempt to find a path to peace in this conflict.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Ukrainian Attorney General Andriy Kostin visit a mass grave site in the town of Bucha amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, outside Kyiv, Ukraine , on June 16, 2023. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)
Meanwhile, a confrontation between the Polish authorities and a group of South African journalists and the security team accompanying Ramaphosa threatened to overshadow the visit.
The group was not allowed to disembark until more than 24 hours after arriving in the Polish capital, Warsaw, where the South African president paid a courtesy call on President Andrzej Duda. Poland shares a border with Ukraine and Russia.
The Polish Border Guard said on Friday that the members of the South African delegation did not have the necessary import permits for the weapons they had brought on board the government-chartered plane.
However, high-level South African officials insisted that they obtained all the necessary permits.
Many African countries were criticized by Western nations for failing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and for conspicuously staying away from votes denouncing the invasion in the United Nations General Assembly.
However, South Africa’s Ramaphosa made it clear that he will not “take sides in a competition between global powers”, and that his goal is a negotiated end to the conflict.
It was also criticized after the US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, said South Africa supplied Russia with weapons in December last year.
Economic impact
African countries suffered a significant economic impact from the conflict, particularly with regard to grain and fertilizer prices.
“As you all know, Africa was severely hit by this conflict in terms of food insecurity, the price of grains, the price of fertilizers. However, this mission claims to seek a path to peace that alleviates the suffering people in Ukraine are experiencing,” said South African presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya.
Putin said earlier in the week that he would consider giving grain “for free to the world’s poorest countries,” after announcing that Russia could withdraw from the Black Sea grain deal, which was negotiated to allow exports of Ukraine’s vital grains from ports. of the Black Sea after the invasion of Russia in February 2022.
The Russian president added that Moscow entered into the Black Sea grain deal to help “friendly” countries in Africa and Latin America and maintain good relations.
“We are not doing this for Ukraine, we are doing this for our friendly countries in Africa and Latin America. Because the grain should go first… to the poorest countries in the world,” Putin said.
He added that the future of this agreement will be discussed at his meeting with African leaders this Saturday.
CNN’s Uliana Pavlova and Stephanie Busari contributed to this report
