What conclusions does the African peace mission leave after the dialogues with Ukraine and Russia?

A scenario that clouds the efforts of a continent that is waiting for the pact for these exports to be extended and that is further complicated after Putin said in that same meeting that there have been alleged breaches to bring Russian agricultural products to international markets.

In addition to economic interest, it was essential for African nations to publicize a plan based on at least 10 points to reach their greatest objective: peace.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who led the delegation, unveiled the phased strategy.

Wanted “resolve the conflict peacefully, start peace negotiations as soon as possible, initiate a de-escalation on the part of both sides, be able to guarantee the sovereignty of States and their peoples in accordance with the UN Charter, establish security guarantees for all countries, to ensure the export of grains and fertilizers from both countries, to provide humanitarian support to the victims of the conflict, to resolve the issue of the exchange of prisoners and the return of minors, to ensure reconstruction after the end of the conflict, and to collaborate more closely with African countries,” Ramaphosa explained.

A plan “difficult to carry out”

After having deployed his proposal to reach peace, the Russian president hastened to explain why, according to his position, many of the points of the agreement were difficult to reach, despite the fact that he assured that he wants to talk with Kiev.

Putin maintained that he has never refused to hold talks with the authorities of the country he ordered to invade, but that if the peace agreement proposed by Africa is now done, it must be under “the new realities” that the conflict has left.

The president thus referred to the annexations he made of four Ukrainian regions: Kherson and Zaporizhia, in the south, and Donetsk and Lugansk, in the east, after the holding of disputed referendums in September 2022 and in the context of war.

“Dear friends, it was not us, but the leaders of Ukraine who announced that they will not conduct any negotiations (…) We are certainly ready to study all your proposals. I want to stress once again that we are open to a constructive dialogue with all those who want the establishment of peace on the principles of justice and the legitimate interests of the parties,” Putin said during the meeting, which was held at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg.

The Russian head of state also accused the West of being “responsible for the sharp increase in world food prices” and said that if Moscow had agreed to the Black Sea grain deal it was to support its “friends” in Africa and Latin America and not to benefit Kiev.

“We are not doing this for Ukraine, we are doing this for our friendly countries in Africa and Latin America. Because the grain should first go to the poorest countries in the world,” Putin said.

The words of the Russian president were quickly replicated in the local media by the Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov. The foreign minister indicated that Russia would share the points of the agreement that have the “main approaches in common”, but assured that the plan is “difficult to carry out”.

These words, however, are one of the few issues on which Ukraine also agrees, since prior to the visit of the African leaders to Saint Petersburg, in Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky was quite reluctant to seek negotiations with Moscow. under the terms proposed by the African delegation.

For Zelensky, there were several gestures from the leaders that were not welcome. Among them, two that the president showed his immediate rejection: the way in which the African representatives referred to the conflict and the idea of ​​a negotiation without Russia vacating the territory it invaded.

“My colleagues are constantly calling this war a ‘crisis’ and are within their rights to do so, but this means that we assess the situation differently. It is not a crisis and it is not a threat, it is a war, the consequences of which are a series of major crises”, claimed the president of Ukraine in the middle of the meeting.

“During our conversation, I made it clear on several occasions that allow negotiations with Russia at this time; with the occupier present in our territory, it would be to freeze the war, freeze the pain and suffering“, he declared.

And it is that for Zelenski, this visit is outside of what he expects as support from foreign countries. Since the start of the invasion on February 24, 2022, at the UN General Assembly most African states (52%) abstained from voting or did not attend the session.

“This is their decision, but it is not clear what their logic is. However, they are leaders of free states, so this is their choice,” Zelensky remarked at a press conference after the meeting.

After this weekend of talks, the seven African leaders from Comoros, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia, Egypt, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda assured that they will continue to seek to reach a “bilateral ceasefire”.

Their governments insisted that they will not take sides on the conflict and some indicated that they hope that the war will come to an end as soon as possible.

With Reuters, AP and EFE.