Lindsay Dentlinger
Africa-Press – Liberia. President Cyril Ramaphosa concluded his two-day visit to Ukraine and Russia with no concrete commitment from either side to end the hostilities.
The visit to the warring nations has also been impacted by a diplomatic row in Poland where Ramaphosa’s security detail and invited journalists were stranded during the talks.
Ramaphosa on Saturday presented a 10-point plan to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin without any invited South African journalists present at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg.
Accompanied by three heads of state from Senegal, Comoros and Zambia, the president appealed to Putin to move to the negotiating table.
“All wars have to be settled and come to an end at some stage and we are here to communicate that we would like this war to be ended.”
Ramaphosa also appealed for humanitarian support, the release of prisoners of war, and the return of children removed from Ukraine.
“There needs to be a guarantee of security for all countries. This matter has been raised on all sides and we agree with that.
Meanwhile, Putin has accused Ukraine of reneging on their Istanbul treaty and said he has never been opposed to negotiations. He questioned whether Ukraine could be trusted to stick to a truce.
“They rejected that. Where are the guarantees that they will not reject any other agreements that we might make. Even in these conditions we have never rejected the idea of negotiating with them,” said Putin.
Addressing the African delegation, Putin also accused the United States and the European Union of trickery over the export of grain from Ukraine, denying that the Russian invasion was driving up food prices.
“The supply of Ukrainian grain to global markets does to solve African countries’ problems. We do not think that supplies of grain to the world markets will resolve the problem of hunger. It is not true.”
African nations will return to St. Petersburg in July for the second Russia-Africa summit where matters of peace and security will be back on the agenda.
source:ewn.co.za
For More News And Analysis About Liberia Follow Africa-Press
