African leaders have confirmed the possibility that they will visit Russia and Ukraine in mid-June as part of efforts to resolve the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, the South African Presidency said in a statement on Tuesday, after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met with colleagues involved in the African Peace Initiative.
According to the statement, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met with Comoros President Azali Assoumani, the present chairman of the African Union (AU), Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema.
Earlier, the Brazzaville Foundation NGO reported that preparations have been made for African leaders to visit Ukraine and Russia as part of the peace initiative, which is expected to take place before the end of June.
Earlier, South African Foreign Ministry Director-General Zane Dangor said that Ramaphosa and the African leaders will visit Moscow and Kiev in early June as part of a peace initiative.
Jean-Yves Ollivier, the founder of the Brazzaville Foundation and the initiator of the mission, previously told Sputnik Africa that the main goal of the African mission on the Ukrainian crisis is to help establish a dialogue between the two countries, noting that the African mission's negotiations will be unconditional and the mission itself is the first of its kind that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky have agreed to host.
The African peace mission to Russia and Ukraine was unveiled by South African President Ramaphosa in mid-May. He said that both Moscow and Kiev had agreed to receive a mission of African leaders with their peace initiative on the Ukraine conflict.
The African peace mission would consist of the presidents of South Africa, Zambia, Senegal, Uganda, Egypt, the Republic of the Congo, and Comoros, the present chairman of the AU.
Moscow's reaction towards the African peace mission was positive, with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov noting that the Russian administration is ready to listen and evaluate what the African leaders have to say.
"We need to see what ideas and proposals [African countries] come up with. Of course, we need to understand what their thoughts are, because there are many who want to organize mediation efforts," Bogdanov said days after the initiative was announced.