African leaders urge Putin to demonstrate his ‘desire for peace’ – Senegal’s president

Sall said this in an interview with the Financial Times.

According to him, politicians made this call to Putin during their 'peacekeeping' visit to Moscow in June.

"Before the next Russia-Africa summit, he [Putin] must do some actions to show his desire to move forward [with peace] even in a humanitarian way,” Sall said. 

He emphasized that further exchanges of prisoners of war and the return of deported children to Ukraine could be a very good signal.

"That’s why we continue to use the Russia-Africa summit to see how we can move forward on the negotiations we tried to implement between Russia and Ukraine," the politician said. 

Asked if Putin had shown any inclination to pursue peace, Sall said: "During this summit maybe we can have another meeting and have some progress. That’s what we hope."

What is known about the 'peacekeeping mission' of African countries

On May 16, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that African countries had proposed a 'peace initiative' to help end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The initiative group, in addition to South Africa, includes Egypt, Zambia, the Republic of Congo, Senegal, and Uganda.

Later, during a telephone conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ramaphosa announced his intention to come to Ukraine with the 'peace initiative' of African countries.

On June 16, Ramaphosa arrived in Kyiv and was forced to seek shelter during a Russian missile strike, as the Russian troops attacked the Ukrainian capital with Kinzhals. Later, the politician met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and presented a 10-point plan, which calls for de-escalation of hostilities and the immediate start of negotiations, the release of prisoners of war and the return of children, etc.

Later, African leaders paid a similar visit to Moscow.

Summarizing the results of his visits to Ukraine and Russia, Ramaphosa said he saw grounds for optimism.