PRETORIA, June 7. /TASS/. The peace mission consisting of African countries’ leaders will visit Moscow and Kiev to seek ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine as part of the Road to Peace initiative before the end of June, the Brazzaville Foundation reported.

"The Brazzaville Foundation has obtained the approval and participation of these esteemed leaders (of Egypt, Senegal, the Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Zambia and South Africa - TASS) in the initiative which will culminate in a common visit by the participating African Heads of State to Ukraine and Russia before the end of June 2023," the organization said in a communique issued on Wednesday in South Africa, "On June 5, 2023, a virtual conference took place between the participating Heads of State and the Brazzaville Foundation. During this conference, it has been agreed that the coordination of the Heads of State visit, including logistical arrangements and diplomatic communication, will be managed by the respective countries' diplomatic channels."

The Brazzaville Foundation was created in the summer of 2014 by French businessman Jean-Yves Olivier, who is its current president. The organization is headquartered in London.

Intense preparations

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on June 6 that the African peace mission’s upcoming visit to Moscow and Kiev aims to determine the framework for a peaceful end to the crisis in Ukraine. According to him, the mission has two tasks: to hear out the Russian and Ukrainian sides on their vision of what conditions are necessary to end the conflict and then to present its own vision of a peaceful resolution of the conflict, based on what they hear in Moscow and Kiev. At the same time, the African delegation intends to address in detail the problem of how the Ukrainian crisis is negatively impacting Africa, where food and energy problems have been exacerbated.

On June 5, the presidents of Egypt, the Comoros, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia held video consultations on the African peace initiative to resolve the crisis in Ukraine. The leaders agreed that they would discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky the details of a ceasefire and lasting peace in the region. They also instructed the foreign ministers of their countries to finalize elements of a roadmap for promoting peace in Ukraine. The presidents confirmed their readiness to visit Moscow and Kiev.

On May 16, Ramaphosa announced that Russian and Ukrainian authorities had agreed to host an African delegation to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Ramaphosa was speaking on behalf of a group of six African countries: Egypt, the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. Now the incumbent chair of the African Union, the Comoros, has been added to this list.