President Cyril Ramaphosa says a group of African leaders is working on a continent-wide initiative to bring Russia and Ukraine to the dialogue table.

Speaking to members of the African National Congress (ANC) in Durban, Cyril Ramaphosa said that, at this stage, the work was being done discreetly.

Ramaphosa said more details about the initiative would be available in the next few days.
The South African statesman says he recently spoke to Vladimir Putin on the phone. In the conversation, Ramaphosa says he reiterated that the Russia/Ukraine conflict can only be resolved through dialogue.

"I spoke to President Putin on the phone. I basically told him: Mr. President Putin, this conflict needs to be resolved through negotiations. I said the same thing to President Zelensky of Ukraine. Now, a group of African leaders has been working discreetly to see how best the African continent can come up with an initiative to try to get the two sides to talk, so that the conflict can end," he said.
Cyril Ramaphosa stressed that the African continent has also been affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

"Africa has also been suffering because of this conflict. First: We import our fertilizers from that part of the world, and fertilizer prices have risen by more than seventy percent. South Africa and several countries on the continent are also impacted by the global grain trade that passes through that part of the world. Secondly, oil prices have gone up and we are seeing that the cost of living has increased, partly because of this conflict," he said.

Africa and Russia have scheduled a summit for next July in St. Petersburg. The meeting is expected to define new tasks to expand the Russian Federation's cooperation with its African partners in different areas. South Africa intends to invite other African countries to this summit. (RM)