South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who heads an African mediation delegation, told Russian leader Vladimir Putin yesterday that "the war must end" in Ukraine.

"The war cannot go on forever (...). This war must end," Ramaphosa said during a meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg and stressed that "it is in our common interest for this war to end".

This weekend, four African heads of state - Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Macky Sal of Senegal, Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia and Azali Assoumani of the Comoros (current president of the African Union) - traveled to St. Petersburg and Kiev to seek meetings with Zelensky and Putin.

"We are here to listen to you, to listen to the voice of the Russian people," said the President of Comoros, adding that the purpose of the delegation is "to convince the two countries to take the path of dialog."

In Kiev on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had rejected the African delegation's proposal, denouncing it as a strategy orchestrated by Moscow, when Ukrainian forces are trying to develop a counter-offensive.

Yesterday, in St. Petersburg, Putin once again said that he respects "the position of African states in favor of maintaining stability," and was pleased with "their aspiration to a pacifist policy."

Meanwhile, the Russian leader expressed his gratitude for the interest in finding ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, stressing that "the comprehensive strengthening of ties with the countries of the African continent is a foreign policy priority" for his government.