African foreign ministers advance to Kyiv to prepare ‘road to peace’ mission

Preparations are well under way as seven African heads of states prepare to undertake a peace mission to Russia and Ukraine in mid-June. 

International relations minister Naledi Pandor, who is one of the leaders in organising of the “road to peace” journey, confirmed on Tuesday that she and her counterparts will be advancing to Kyiv, Ukraine, to start preparing for negotiations with President Volodymyr Zelensky and later with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, in a bid to bring a negotiated end to the war.  

“We are working on logistics. There is this train journey that has to be undertaken from Poland to Kyiv and that journey, we have to ensure, is both comfortable and secure for the seven African heads of states.  

“We will be going early as foreign ministers next week to be part of the advance team so that when the seven heads of states arrive all arrangements are ready,” she said.  

Speaking on the sidelines of a state visit by Portugal’s Marcelo Rebelo De Sousa, who was on a state visit to South Africa, Pandor said the programme for the Ukraine visit was ready while the Russian programme was being finalised.  

“We are working hard to ensure that we are ready,” she said.

Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday met with his counterparts virtually, including Comoros Islands President and AU chair Othman Ghazali, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Senegal’s Macky Sall, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema — all who will be joining him on the trip.  

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said during the meeting, the African leaders deliberated on the devastating impact the war has had on the people of Ukraine and Russia as well as the threats the war poses to Europe and the rest of the world if it continues.  

“The leaders agreed that they would engage with (Russian) president Vladimir Putin and (Ukrainian) president Volodymyr Zelensky on the elements for a ceasefire and lasting peace in the region,” Magwenya said.  

The presidents confirmed their availability to travel to Ukraine and Russia in mid-June.

Ramaphosa said the initiative of peacemaking has been under discussion for months. 

“Yesterday we met and confirmed that we are now at a stage where we are going to visit Kyiv and Moscow. Our mission is a peace mission and we want to dub it as: ‘The road to peace.’”  

One of the things that was discussed was that the African leaders want to listen to both sides and find out what the minimum requirements are to bring an end to the war. 

“Clearly, they will explain where they are themselves and we will be there to listen. It’s important that when you make an intervention for peace that you listen to both parties, where they are and where they are going.” 

Africa will in turn share its views on how the war is impacting Africa, in relation to food, grain and other parts of the world. 

“We will essentially be pursuing peace and seeking to get a commitment from both sides that they too should seek for peace to end this conflict through peaceful means.” 

Reiterating South Africa’s position, Ramaphosa said we are of the belief that conflict should be ended through discussions and negotiations “unless there is an outright defeat, which we do not see here, therefore we see one option and alternative, which is parties sitting down through peaceful negotiations”.  

Both countries are ready to negotiate, however, are saying people should sit down and lay out precisely “an end game”. It is in this context, that Ramaphosa said parties will be having discussions.  

Pandor said the visit is particularly important because South Africa’s impetus has always been towards peace and reconciliation.  

“The engagements with our colleagues aren’t to say, ‘We are so sorry that this is the position we have.’ It is rather to indicate how we are approaching this and why we have taken the particular step of saying that Africa has been able to maintain an open door between and with both countries and let us use this opening for the greater good.” 

On the US, Pandor said relations remain “warm and engaged” with leaders remaining in contact.  

“I am really not sure what seized the ambassador to make the statement that he made, but given the very strong words that he used, we hope that he will appear before judge Phineas Mojapelo to provide this information that he had.”  

Pandor was referring to comments made by US ambassador to SA Reuben Brigety who accused SA of arming Russia when a vessel, the Lady R, docked in Simon’s Town in Cape Town in December last year.  

After the explosive allegations, Ramaphosa established the panel to investigate whether there were “persons who were aware of the cargo ship’s arrival and, if any, the contents to be offloaded or loaded, the departure and destination of the cargo”.

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