Addressing the Russia-Africa summit for a second day, Putin said Moscow would carefully consider a peace proposal for Ukraine that African leaders want to see implemented.
“This is a serious problem, and we are not shying away from considering it,” the Russian president said, stressing that his government is handling the African initiative with respect and “carefully reviewing” it.
He encouraged African leaders to talk with Ukraine, which has refused to hold talks until Russian soldiers leave its territory.
“I think it is also necessary to talk to the other side, although we are grateful to our African friends for the attention they have paid to the issue,” Putin told the summit in St. Petersburg.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said his African counterparts hoped to continue talks with Putin later on Friday on his peace proposal.
“We are hopeful that constructive engagement and negotiations can end the ongoing conflict,” said Ramaphosa, who heads the most developed country in sub-Saharan Africa, adding that in South Africa, “our own history has taught us that this is really possible”.
Without specifically mentioning the fighting in Ukraine, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni criticized those who foment ideologically driven military conflicts, calling them “wasters of time and opportunities,” adding that “human history will continue Go ahead, like it or not.”
“The only wars that are justified are just wars, like anti-colonial wars,” Museveni said. “Hegemony wars will fail and waste time and opportunities. Dialogue is the right path.”
In the public part of the Friday night meeting on the peace proposal, Putin reiterated his explanation to the African rulers about the origin of the conflict and Russia’s actions in it, without issuing any statement on what they had proposed to him. The African leaders said they expected to hear detailed remarks from the Russian leader during a later part of the closed-door meeting.
In his speech, Putin reaffirmed his promise that Russia would keep a steady supply of grain and other agricultural products to the African continent after he abandoned an agreement allowing grain shipments from Ukraine. The fact that Moscow has withdrawn from the Black Sea Grains Initiative has fueled concerns of a global food crisis.
“Russia will always be a responsible international supplier of agricultural products and will continue to support countries and the region in need by offering free grain and other supplies,” the Russian president said.
During the opening of the summit on Thursday, Putin announced that Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea and the Central African Republic will each receive 25,000 to 50,000 tons of Russian grain in the next three to four months.
By comparison, the United Nations World Food Program shipped 725,000 tons of grain to various countries, including Somalia, through the Black Sea agreement.
Commenting on Putin’s commitment to send free grain, UN Secretary General António Guterres said those donations cannot offset the repercussions of Moscow cutting off grain exports from Ukraine, which, along with Russia, is one of the main suppliers to the world market.
Guterres said the UN is in contact with Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and other nations to try to restore the year-long agreement, through which Ukraine exported more than 32 million tons of grain. Following the resumption of shipments through Ukrainian Black Sea ports, global food prices fell sharply from the levels they spiked when Putin sent his forces to the neighboring country.
Only 17 heads of state attended the meeting, compared with 43 at the first Russia-Africa summit in 2019, a sharp drop in attendance that the Kremlin has blamed on “outrageous” Western pressure to discourage African countries from go.
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Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Cara Anna in Nairobi contributed to this report.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
