Just in: South Africa’s Ramaphosa arrives in Ukraine on African peace mission

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Just in: South Africa’s Ramaphosa arrives in Ukraine on African peace mission

10:25 CAT | 16 Jun 2023

A screenshot from a video published by South African Presidency showing the arrival of South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa to Ukraine on June 16, 2023.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in Ukraine on Friday as part of an African peace mission, the South African presidency said on Twitter.

Ramaphosa is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday and then travel to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Saturday.

The South African presidency posted footage of Ramaphosa arriving by train in the Bucha area near Kyiv after travelling via Poland.

[ARRIVAL]: His Excellency President @CyrilRamaphosa has arrived at Nemishaeve Railway Station in Ukraine and is received by Ukraine’s Special Envoy for Africa & the Middle East Ambassador Maksym Subhk and South African Ambassador to Ukraine Mr Andre Groenewald.… pic.twitter.com/Jk8V8n2v9O

— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) June 16, 2023

International investigators are collecting evidence in Bucha and other places where Ukraine says Russian troops committed large-scale atrocities following their full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russia denies the allegations.

Along with Senegal President Macky Sall, Ramaphosa is heading a delegation including leaders from Zambia, the Comoros, and Egypt’s prime minister.

The peace mission could propose a series of “confidence building measures” during initial efforts at mediation, according to a draft framework document seen by Reuters.

The document states that the objective of the mission is “to promote the importance of peace and to encourage the parties to agree to a diplomacy-led process of negotiations”.
Those measures could include a Russian troop pull-back, removal of tactical nuclear weapons from Belarus, suspension of implementation of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant targeting Putin, and sanctions relief, it indicated.

A cessation of hostilities agreement could follow and would need to be accompanied by negotiations between Russia and the West, the document stated.

Kyiv says its own plan, which envisages the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian land, must be the basis for any settlement of the war.

His Excellency President @CyrilRamaphosa and other African Heads of State & Government participating in the African Leaders Peace Mission at the St Andrew’s Orthodox Church in the City of Bucha in Kiev, Ukraine, and receive a briefing ahead of their visit to the Mass Grave where… pic.twitter.com/8cVIJJZkwA

— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) June 16, 2023