Ukraine tells African mission no peace talks with Russia before withdrawal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said aft gathering African leaders successful Kyiv connected Friday that bid talks with Russia would beryllium imaginable lone aft Moscow withdraws its forces from occupied Ukrainian territory.

And Zelenskiy said helium failed to recognize what could beryllium gained from the leaders gathering Russian President Vladimir Putin connected Saturday successful St Petersburg, Russia's 2nd city.

"...This is their decision, however logical it is, I don't truly understand," helium told reporters.

Zelenskiy's comments signalled nary alteration successful Ukraine's long-held stance connected bid talks, contempt the African delegation's hopes of mediating an extremity to the warfare that has raged since Russia's full-scale penetration successful February 2022.

"To let immoderate negotiations with Russia present portion the occupier is connected our onshore is to frost the war, to frost everything: symptom and suffering," Zelenskiy told a associated property league with the delegation.

"We request existent peace, and therefore, a existent withdrawal of Russian troops from our full autarkic land."

Ukraine stood by its ain bid initiative, based connected a implicit Russian withdrawal, but invited the African leaders to instrumentality portion successful an planetary bid acme that is being drawn up.

The delegation, including leaders of Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, South Africa and the Comoros, met Zelenskiy aft being greeted successful Kyiv by a volley of Russian missiles.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the leaders had travel "to stock the African perspective" and saw talks with Russia arsenic portion of the mission.

He recalled that South Africa's erstwhile president Nelson Mandela favoured negotiations and that "even erstwhile the struggle becomes astir intense, that is erstwhile bid should beryllium made".

The President of the Comoro Islands, Azali Assoumani, existent seat of the African Union, said the leaders had nary close to steer wide of negotiations.

"It is not successful our involvement to simply bash nothing. That would beryllium cowardly," helium told reporters. "This treatment is perfectly necessary. Let maine guarantee you: we recognize your pain. We person lived done it. And we volition person a treatment with Putin."

With Kyiv and Moscow courting the Global South, the African leaders spot a accidental to mediate successful a warfare that has deed African countries by disrupting atom and different nutrient supplies and aggravating terms inflation.

Ramaphosa said African countries were prepared to enactment further successful a bid pact successful Ukraine, and called for the escaped travel of grain. Ukraine is simply a large planetary shaper and exporter successful peacetime.

African nations person mostly remained neutral connected the Ukraine war. Some, notably South Africa, received enactment from the Soviet Union for their independency movements and person cordial relations with Russia, but astir person person economical links with the United States and Europe.

The African leaders are seeking statement connected a bid of "confidence gathering measures" adjacent arsenic Ukraine past week began a counteroffensive to propulsion backmost Russian forces from Ukrainian territory they occupy.

The Kremlin has played down the chances of meaningful bid talks with Kyiv.

It says conditions for a bid process are not successful place, but that it is acceptable to perceive and is unfastened to extracurricular initiatives.