According to a presidential statement released here, after participating in the ILO World Labor Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, Ramaphosa paid a courtesy call on Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw this afternoon.

The South African president is now on his way to Kiev for a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tomorrow, the text reveals.

From Kiev, Ramaphosa will travel tomorrow, Friday, June 16, to St. Petersburg, Russia, where the African delegation will meet with President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, June 17, the source adds.

The Mission is composed of the leaders of South Africa, Zambia, Comoros, Congo Brazzaville, Egypt, Senegal and Uganda.

The South African leader, the statement recalls, has maintained a fluid dialogue with Putin, Zelenskyy, Chinese President Xi Jinping, the leaders of the Brics countries, and UN Secretary General António Guterres, to facilitate a peaceful outcome to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, in line with South Africa’s position as a non-aligned state.

The current Peace Mission, Ramaphosa said today, brings an African perspective and a call for a peace process to the ongoing deliberations in various parts of the world and within different formations of nations on how to address the conflict.

The strength of this initiative, he stressed, is that African leaders will engage with both sides.

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