An African delegation led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is heading to St. Petersburg (northwest Russia) on Saturday, where they will be welcomed by Vladimir Putin after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev to mediate between the two countries. . To stop Moscow’s war on neighboring countries From February 24, 2022.

On Friday, the delegation proposed peace mediation in the conflict, stressing the need to “stop escalation on both sides”, but the Ukrainian president rejected this, condemning Russia’s “deception”.

During a press conference with African leaders participating in the delegation, Zelensky said: “It is clear that Russia is trying to use its old tactic again based on deception, but Russia will no longer succeed in deceiving the world. We will not give it. A second chance.”

Allowing any talks with Russia now would be “paralleling the war”.

He added, “Any negotiations with Russia now, while the aggressor is still on our land, will freeze the war and freeze the pain and suffering.”

Welcomed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). through mediation, However, he insisted that the only “reasonable solution” in this war was to consider Russia as the aggressor.

For his part, Putin insisted on Friday that the Ukrainian counteroffensive on the front had “no chance of success” and that the West would eventually have to negotiate with him, adding: “We’ll see when we talk to them. What topics to discuss.”

Putin: Zelensky “Shame on Jewish People”

The Russian president again saw neo-Nazi control of Ukraine to justify his military offensive and described his Ukrainian opponent, who is Jewish, as a “disgrace to the Jewish people.” “I have a lot of Jewish friends,” he said during an economic forum in St. Petersburg, “and they say that Zelensky is not a Jew, but rather an insult to the Jewish people. I’m not kidding.”

Besides Ramaphosa, the African delegation includes four heads of state: Macky Sall of Senegal, Hakende Hichilema of Zambia and Ghazali Ousmani of Comoros, who heads the African Union, as well as representatives from Congo, Uganda and Egypt.

The delegation arrived in Kiev just before midday on Friday, after the Ukrainian capital was targeted by a Russian missile attack that led to the sounding of anti-aircraft sirens, followed by explosions. Ukrainian police said at least seven people were injured in the attack.

The arrival of the first batch of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus

The African delegation began its mission by visiting Bucha, a suburb of Kiev where the Russian army is accused of killing hundreds of civilians at the start of the war.

The Kremlin is trying to woo African leaders to its camp by casting Russia as a bulwark against Western imperialism, and blames the West for blocking the export of Russian grain and fertilizer to Africa as a result of economic sanctions.

In parallel, Putin announced the arrival of the first batch on Friday Nuclear weapons for BelarusThus he sanctified a proliferation announced in Moscow in March.

France 24/AFP