Zelensky rejected the calls of African leaders to negotiate with Russia

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, after a meeting with the leaders of African countries, said that he will not start peace talks with Russia until Russia completely withdraws its troops from Ukraine. According to Zelensky, starting negotiations before the withdrawal of troops would mean not ending, but only freezing the war.

“Russia has been trying to deceive everyone with Minsk for a long time. It is obvious that Russia is now trying to return to its old primitive deception tactics. But it will no longer work to deceive peace in Russia. It is absolutely impossible to deceive Ukraine. I will emphasize once again: real peace is needed, which means – the real withdrawal of Russian troops from our entire independent land,” Zelensky said.

In addition, the Ukrainian president said that at the meeting with the African delegation, he presented the results of two export initiatives: the Black Sea grain deal and the humanitarian initiative “Grain from Ukraine”. The leaders of the countries discussed further steps in the field of food security and the creation of grain hubs in African countries. Also, Zelensky reported that Ukraine is ready to significantly expand educational programs for students, in particular, in the countries of the African continent.

A delegation of leaders of African countries arrived in Kyiv on the morning of June 16. It includes the presidents of South Africa, Zambia, Comoros and Senegal, as well as the prime minister of Egypt. They propose their plan for “building trust” among the participants in potential peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

From Ukraine, the delegation will go to Moscow, where it will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.