South African President Ramaphosa arrives in Ukraine on African peace mission

Cyril Ramaphosa, a South African businessman and the President of South Africa, arrived in Ukraine, a country in Eastern Europe, on Friday, as part of an African peace mission.

The South African presidency said on Twitter that the South African president would meet Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, on Friday.

Reportedly, the South African president travelled to Poland, a country in Central Europe, en route to Ukraine and Russia as part of an African peace mission. He will also travel to Russia for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, a city in Russia, on Saturday.

Cyril Ramaphosa arrived by train in the Bucha area near Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, after traveling via Poland. 

Reportedly, the delegation from South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Congo-Brazzaville, Comoros, Zambia, and Uganda is traveling to Ukraine and Russia on a peace mission to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.

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According to Reuters, the African Peace Mission aims “to promote the importance of peace and to encourage the parties to agree to a diplomacy-led process of negotiations.”

On Thursday, the South African president visited the Polish capital to pay a courtesy call on Andrzej Duda, the president of Poland. He is scheduled to return to South Africa on 18 June.

These African countries have taken different positions on the Russia-Ukraine war. Earlier this year, South Africa, Uganda, and the Republic of Congo abstained from a United Nations resolution, condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demanding it withdraw its troops from Ukraine. However, Zambia and Egypt voted in favor of the UN resolution.

Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian military commander claimed that Ukraine has regained control of over 100 sq km (38 sq miles) of territory.