The Russia-Ukraine conflict is far from being ripe for mediation as President Cyril Ramaphosa and five other African leaders prepare to undertake a peace mission to Moscow and Kyiv. Analysts believe a “mutual-hurting stalemate” that could push Russia and Ukraine to the peace table is still between six months and two years away.
Ramaphosa has agreed to separate meetings in Moscow and Kyiv with the African delegation, which also includes Senegalese President Macky Sall, Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Zambian President Haikande Hichilema, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The initiative came from the private London-based Brazzaville Foundation headed by Frenchman Jean-Yves Ollivier, who has long been involved in African peace initiatives. The Brazzaville Foundation announced on its website that the Ukraine peace initiative had been underway for several months and would be led by Senegal’s Sall.
Ramaphosa was recently The conflict in Ukraine is far from being ripe for intervention by others, and South Africa is unlikely to be seen to be standing with it if the US decides to downgrade its support significantly. The Stockholm forum, run by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, has heard that Ukraine is working hard to bind in its Western allies so that when it comes to negotiations, there would be a united front that includes Ukraine with a standard message.
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Mediation experts have agreed that, at the moment, there is no space for mediation, and there is an easy way to end this: Russia must stop the war. South Africa is unlikely to call for a ceasefire when Russia occupies portions of Ukraine. The most critical details in this text are the criticisms of the ANC's stance on the war in Ukraine, the US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, and the ANC's recent appointment of a dedicated electricity minister.
The Swedes, who had provided more support to the ANC's liberation struggle than the Soviet Union, were bewildered by the ANC's stance on the war in Ukraine. The US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, met an ANC delegation headed by secretary general Fikile Mbalula to discuss Brigety's controversial remarks last week when he said the US was confident South Africa had loaded arms for Russia onto the Russian cargo ship Lady R at the Simon's Town naval base last December.
Brigety also sharply criticised the ANC for the "outrageous patently false and incorrect" anti-American remarks in its international relations policy document adopted at the party's recent conference. The ANC statement about the meeting said Brigety had apologised for his comments, but Brigety himself only tweeted that he was "pleased to have the opportunity today to.
This article is initially published by dailymaverick.co.za under Diplomatic Relations
