African Leaders Ready For Mediation In Russia, Ukraine War — Ramaphosa

African leaders, seeking to help end the war, agreed on Monday to a mediation mission in mid-June to Russia and Ukraine, the South African presidency announced on Tuesday.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hinted last month that his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, had agreed to welcome this peace mission comprised of six African leaders.

According to a press statement from the South African President's office, the latter met virtually on Monday and "agreed to propose elements" to Russia and Ukraine "for a ceasefire and lasting peace in the region."

"The (African) heads of state have confirmed their availability to go to Ukraine and Russia in mid-June," he continued, without specifying a date. 

The foreign ministers of the six nations involved will "finalize the elements of a roadmap towards peace," according to the statement.

The meeting on Monday "confirmed that we are now at a stage where we are going to Kyiv and Moscow," Ramaphosa said at a joint news conference with his Portuguese colleague, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

"Our mission is a mission of peace, and we want to call it a path to peace," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa remarked, adding that African leaders will "seek to secure a commitment from both sides that they, too, should seek (... to end this conflict by peaceful means"

He also said that Russian and Ukrainian authorities "must explain to us their point of view on the war as well as their minimum requirements to end the conflict."

“We will be able to give our point of view as Africans on how we perceive the impact of this war on Africa in terms of food prices, grain, and fuel prices, as well as on Europe and the rest of the world because it has become a rather globalized type of conflict,” Ramaphosa also said.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who commended Ramaphosa for his contribution to the project, emphasized the necessity of listening to "both parties and telling them what is the African vision of a war that is not only a European war, but it is a globalized war."

Apart from the South African president, the members of the mission include the leaders of Congo-Brazzaville, Egypt, Senegal, Uganda, and Zambia.

Azali Assoumani, the Head of State of Comoros, attended the conference on Monday in his position as the African Union's current chair.

Africa has been heavily impacted by the rise in cereal prices as well as the effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on global commerce.