CAIRO, July 27. /TASS/. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the leaders of five African countries participating in the Russia-Africa forum gathered in St. Petersburg on Thursday to discuss their initiative of mediating the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, a spokesperson for the Egyptian leader said.

Presidential spokesman Ahmed Fahmy said on his official Facebook page (banned in Russia, owned by the Meta corporation, recognized as extremist in Russia) that apart from the Egyptian president, the meeting was also attended by the leaders of the Comoros, Congo, Senegal, Uganda and South Africa.

"The African leaders discussed promoting their initiative after this June’s visits to Kiev and St. Petersburg by delegations of African countries," the spokesman said.

He added that the participants of the meeting "reaffirmed the African states’ support to all efforts aimed at settling the crisis between Ukraine and Russia, taking into account its economic consequences that seriously affect African economies and global security."

A delegation from seven African countries, including the presidents of Zambia, the Comoros, Senegal and South Africa; the prime minister of Egypt; and presidential envoys from the Republic of the Congo and Uganda, visited Kiev on June 16 for talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. The next day, the mission was received by Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. On June 17, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, on behalf of the delegation, presented a ten-point plan that could help lay the foundation for a peace process in Ukraine. It was agreed that during the Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg in July, the mission would continue consultations on the matter with the Russian side.

The second Russia-Africa Summit is taking place at St. Petersburg’s Expoforum on July 27-28, in parallel with economic and humanitarian forums. Similar to the first such summit in 2019, the event is being held under the rubric "For Peace, Security and Development." The event is being organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is the event’s official information partner and photo-hosting agency.