???? Live: African delegation to meet Putin in Russia in bid to de-escalate conflict

Issued on: 17/06/2023 – 07:40Modified: 17/06/2023 – 07:47

7:07am: African leaders prepare to meet Putin after Zelensky rules out talks

A high-level African delegation was is to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg this Saturday, a day after its calls for talks between Moscow and Kyiv were rebuffed by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

“In our view it is important to listen very carefully to what both countries have to say, and tomorrow we are now going to listen to President Putin,” said South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose delegation consists also of the presidents of Senegal, Zambia, and Comoros.

The leaders of Uganda, Egypt and Congo-Brazzaville pulled out of the visit at the last moment and sent representatives instead.

The diplomatic team had visited Kyiv on Friday, where Ramaphosa had insisted “there should be peace through negotiations”.

But Zelensky ruled out that possibility: “I clearly said several times at our meeting that to allow any negotiations with Russia now that the occupier is on our land is to freeze the war, to freeze pain and suffering”.

10:26pm: Every recaptured metre of land of utmost importance, says Zelensky

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that every metre of Ukrainian territory recaptured from Russian occupying forces was “of the utmost importance” in Ukraine’s current counteroffensive against Russian forces.

“Our movement forward is the most critical thing,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address after meeting top military commanders.

“Every soldier, every new step we take, every metre of Ukrainian land freed from the enemy is of utmost importance.”

9:27pm: Zelensky urges African leaders to press Putin on release of political prisoners

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to a group of African leaders to ask his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to free political prisoners from Crimea and beyond – saying it would be an “important step” in their trip to the Russian city of St. Petersburg on Saturday.

Seven African leaders – presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, as well as Egypt’s prime minister and top envoys from the Republic of Congo and Uganda – visited Ukraine on Friday as part of a self-styled “peace mission” to both Ukraine and Russia to try to help end their nearly 16-month-old war. 

The tenor of the press conference soured when Comoros President Azali Assoumani floated the idea of a “road map” to peace, prompting questions from Zelensky, who sought a clarification and insisted he didn’t want “any surprises” from their visit with Putin. 

Zelensky then urged them to help free political prisoners from Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. 

“Would you please ask Russia to liberate the political prisoners?” Zelensky said. “Maybe this will be an important result of your mission, of your ‘road map’.”

5:35pm: Putin says sent nuclear warheads in Belarus

President Vladimir Putin on Friday confirmed Russia had sent nuclear arms to its ally Belarus which borders Ukraine.

“The first nuclear warheads were delivered to the territory of Belarus… This is the first part,” Putin told an annual economic forum. 

It was the first time the Russian leader confirmed the move himself.

Putin said the weapons are meant as deterrence to “those who are thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia”. Belarusian troops began training on nuclear-capable Russian missile systems in April.

Read yesterday’s liveblog to see how the day’s events unfolded.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)