The Foreign Minister of South Africa, Naledi Pandor, has met in Portugal with Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, on the eve of the expected African peace initiative on the situation in Ukraine and the visit of the African mission to Moscow and Kiev.
"Minister Pandor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba took advantage of their presence in Lisbon to hold talks at the Ukrainian Embassy. Minister Pandor informed Minister Kuleba about the expected mission to Kiev and Moscow of a delegation of six heads of state and government of African countries, including President Cyril Ramaphosa," the South African foreign ministry said in a statement.
It was noted that Kuleba said that Kiev welcomes the peace initiative and expects the leaders of African countries in Ukraine.
Earlier this month, Ramaphosa said that he had talked to Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky on the peace initiative on behalf of several African countries, including Zambia, Senegal, Congo, Uganda, Egypt and South Africa.
According to Ramaphosa, both agreed to accept the mission of the African heads of state in Moscow and Kiev. As he also pointed out, the UN Secretary-General and the office of the African Union have been informed about this initiative.
Russia's Foreign Ministry later commented that it it welcomes the initiative, but it needs to be studied.