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South African president calls African peacekeeping mission ‘impactful’

Its real success will be measured on the ultimate objective of stopping the war, Cyril Ramaphosa said

PRETORIA, June 18. /TASS/. The peacekeeping mission of African leaders to resolve the Ukrainian crisis was ‘impactful’, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Twitter on Sunday.

"Well, I think our mission was impactful. Its real success obviously, will be measured on the ultimate objective of stopping the war. But the impact that it has had is that, one, we were listened to as we gave an African perspective on the war that's having negative consequences for our continent. And secondly, we probably the only group that has engaged the two leaders within a short space of time to put forward a very strong proposal and view that the war must end. But we also accompanied that broad proposal with a number of elements which have to do with the recognition of the sovereignty of countries in terms of the UN charter that we put forward unambiguously," he said in a video published on his Twitter account.

Ramaphosa added, "As it is now, the continent, Africa, is going to have a summit with Russia, which is the second summit, the first one having been held a few years ago. And we will continue our discussions with President Putin then. And in the intervening period, we'll also be talking to President Zelensky because we also want to know his response to a number of the other issues we raised."

"Their agreement that they are willing to engage with African leaders on this is a huge achievement for us because now Africa is in the frame. Africa will be participating, and we're participating positively without trying to diminish the other efforts that are underway. We will also be talking to the UN Secretary General and informing him about these talks, including many other world leaders. That's what I will be doing as well," he concluded.

Earlier on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with delegates from seven African countries to discuss the situation in Ukraine. He stressed that Russia is ready to consider any proposals from African states on the Ukrainian settlement. Earlier, the African delegation discussed the initiative with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Kiev.

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Ukraine Vladimir Putin South Africa

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