"I would like to draw your attention to the fact that with the support of President Tayyip Erdogan, as you know, a series of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine took place in Turkey to find out confidence-building measures and draft the text of the agreement," Putin said before announcing the agreement before the African delegation.
A view of the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the African peace delegation. Photo: RIA Novosti
“We have not discussed with the Ukrainian side that this treaty will be kept secret, but we have never presented it nor commented on it. This draft agreement is initialed by the head. He signed it. Here it is,” Putin said, presenting the draft agreement.
President Putin also said during the talks that Russia is committed to cooperation and support for Africa. He said the West, not Russia, was responsible for the sharp rise in global food prices early last year, which hit Africa especially hard.
The Russian leader added that the agreement to help export Ukraine's grains from the Black Sea ports that Russia has signed does not help alleviate Africa's difficulties because most of them have been shipped to rich countries.
And he said Russia has never refused to negotiate with the Ukrainian side. However, Russia has repeatedly said that any peace plan must be in line with the "new reality", which recognizes Moscow's annexation of five regions of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula.
Putin publicly attended the initial peace agreement with Ukraine in front of leaders from Africa. Photo: RIA Novosti
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said on Saturday after President Putin's meeting with the African peace mission that African countries support the indivisible of global security and Russia supports this principled stance.
“First of all, African leaders emphasized China's 12-point peace plan, presented a few months ago…, that all the principles of the United Nations Charter on territorial integrity should be guaranteed…, that security is indivisible on a global scale. Those are the attitudes in principle that we share,” he said.
Lavrov also pointed out that African countries have shown an understanding of the root causes of the Ukraine crisis, "created by the efforts of the West". Lavrov added that the African delegation did not bring the Russian leader any message from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said that Putin had shown interest in the plan outlined by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in his presentation and that Russia would continue dialogue with African countries.
The African peace mission includes South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Comoros President Azali Assoumani, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, as well as Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and a number of top diplomats from the Republic of Congo and Uganda.
Earlier, on June 16, the delegation visited Kiev, where they held talks with President Zelenskyy. On June 6, the African delegation held a meeting with Mr. Putin in St. Petersburg, where they presented their peace initiative.
Huy Hoang (according to TASS, RIA Novosti, Reuters)
