MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of seven African countries, participants of the African peace mission on Ukraine, have agreed to continue dialogue, but the exact dates of their next meeting are still unclear, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS.
"Indeed, the dialogue will continue, the parties have emphasized their readiness. There are no exact dates yet," Peskov said when asked whether there was already an understanding on the timeframe for Putin's next meeting with African leaders on Ukraine.
Earlier on Thursday, the South African authorities made public the text of the joint statement. The document, in particular, recognizes progress achieved on humanitarian issues of the initiative; the parties call for the removal of restrictions on the export of Russian grain and fertilizers.
Putin met with participants of the African peace mission in late July on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg. Those were the second such talks this summer. The first took place on June 17. Putin noted then, in particular, that Moscow had not refused to negotiate with Kiev and that it was the Ukrainian authorities who dumped the draft agreement initialled in Istanbul in March 2022.
Peskov later said that the leaders agreed to formalize the main parameters of the discussion in a joint written statement. The Russian side prepared its own draft, which was handed over to the South African delegation before their departure from St. Petersburg, and, as the Kremlin spokesman explained, the joint statement should be published by South Africa after having been coordinated.