A delegation of African leaders are in Ukraine on a peace mission to end the yearlong conflict.  

The delegation, including leaders of Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, South Africa and the Comoros, met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the capital Kyiv today (16 June). 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said they had come “to share the African perspective” and saw talks with Russia as part of the mission.

However, President Zelenskiy said after meeting the African leaders that peace talks with Russia would be possible only after Moscow withdraws its forces from occupied Ukrainian territory.

And Zelenskiy said he failed to understand what could be gained from the leaders meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday in St Petersburg, Russia’s second city.

“…This is their decision, how logical it is, I don’t really understand,” he told reporters.

Zelenskiy’s comments signalled no change in Ukraine’s long-held stance on peace talks, despite the African delegation’s hopes of mediating an end to the war that has raged since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022