During the conversation, the South African president thanked the Russian leader for the constructive discussion on possible ways to resolve the Ukraine crisis during the African Peace Mission's upcoming visit to St. Petersburg later this month.
"Cyril Ramaphosa thanked for the warm welcome and constructive conversation about possible ways to resolve the situation around Ukraine during the June visit of leaders and representatives of a number of African states to St. Petersburg. The consideration of the African peace initiative will continue in conjunction with the Russia–Africa summit at the end of July," the Kremlin said.
A delegation of seven African countries, including the Presidents of Zambia, Comoros, Senegal, South Africa, the Prime Minister of Egypt, and representatives of the Republic of Congo and Uganda, visited Kiev on June 16 and held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The following day, the mission was received by the Russian President in St. Petersburg. On behalf of the delegation, the South African president then outlined a plan of 10 principles for the peace process in Ukraine.
Putin and Ramaphosa also agreed to hold a separate meeting at the summit to exchange views on the bilateral and international agenda.
The Russian president told Ramaphosa that commitments to remove barriers to Russian food and fertilizer exports under the grain export agreement, formally known as the Black Sea Initiative, had not been met.
"When discussing the Istanbul package agreements, Vladimir Putin stressed that the commitments fixed in the relevant Russia-UN memorandum to remove obstacles to the export of Russian food and fertilizers remain unfulfilled so far," the Kremlin statement said.
The main purpose of the so-called grain deal signed in Istanbul in 2022, namely the supply of grain to needy countries, including those in Africa, has not been implemented, according to the Russian leader.
Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations struck a deal to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships with food and fertilizer exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports on July 22, 2022. Moscow has since agreed to several extensions to the grain deal, also known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is now due to expire on July 17, but pointed out that the obligations toward Russia have not been fulfilled.
On June 21, Putin said that Russia might suspend its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative until commitments to Moscow are met. In addition, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on June 21 that there were no grounds for extending the grain deal because commitments to Russia had not been fulfilled.
The Kremlin statement also noted that the South African president briefed his Russian counterpart on preparations for the BRICS summit scheduled for August 22-24 in Johannesburg.
Earlier, the South African president indicated that the BRICS summit will be held in a face-to-face format, while local media, citing the head of the BRICS Business Council Nicolaou Stavros, reported that the heads of all five BRICS member states are expected to attend the summit.