Negotiating device: South African president contacts Putin and Zelensky
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is in contact with both Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky to find a solution to the conflict in Ukraine, his spokesman Vincent Magwenya told Izvestia. However, in 2023, a delegation from African countries, led just by Ramaphosa, visited Russia and Ukraine, presenting their peace initiative. That said, Pretoria alone is unlikely to make a meaningful contribution. Who is still claiming the role of a mediator in the Ukrainian crisis settlement - in the exclusive material of Izvestia.
How Africa can help in the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine
South Africa is one of the countries that is taking efforts to settle the Ukrainian crisis. Cyril Ramaphosa is in contact with both Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, Vincent Magwenya, spokesman for the South African president of South Africa, told Izvestia.
- As you know, we were recently in Russia for a BRICS event, President Ramaphosa met with Putin. The President continues to work with both Putin and Zelensky to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict," he elaborated.
At the BRICS summit in Kazan, the head of the Russian Federation not only chaired the meeting of the leaders of the association's countries, but also held bilateral meetings with them, including Cyril Ramaphosa. As Putin emphasized at the time, Russia attaches special importance to strengthening relations with the countries of the African continent. However, the Ukrainian crisis, of course, was not the main topic on the summit's agenda - after all, BRICS is based on the aspiration of the leading emerging powers to strengthen their positions in the world through active cooperation, not to resolve world conflicts.
In order to find a way to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, a delegation of African representatives led by Ramaphosa traveled to Russia and Ukraine in the summer of 2023. It also included the presidents of Zambia, Comoros (as chair of the African Union at the time) and Senegal, the prime minister of Egypt, a representative of the Congolese president and a special envoy of the leader of Uganda on special assignment. The mission visited first Ukraine and then Russia, presenting a 10-point peace initiative for a settlement, including the need for negotiation and diplomacy, de-escalation of the conflict on both sides, security guarantees, and humanitarian support for the victims. By the way, the last point is of particular importance for Africa - the countries of the continent are not involved in the conflict, but are suffering greatly. Including because of the anti-Russian sanctions, the inhabitants have faced three crises simultaneously - food, energy and financial.
After meetings with representatives of African countries, however, Zelensky said that peace talks are possible only after the withdrawal of Russian troops. Moscow took a positive attitude to the initiative and promised to continue working in this direction.
Since then, however, there has been little progress on this proposal, as on any other, as evidenced by the recent escalation of the conflict. Ukraine, after hasty authorization from the outgoing U.S. administration, has launched several strikes on Russian territory with long-range weapons, not only American-made but also British. France has also given the green light to use their long-range missiles, adding only that it should be done "in self-defense." At the same time, a number of NATO member countries, including Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey, criticized such a move by alliance partners.
Who can become a mediator in the negotiations between Moscow and Kiev?
Despite the lack of visible results, at least South Africa should not be written off in the context of conflict resolution. First, in June 2024 Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected for another five-year term, which means that his current and future initiatives are still relevant. In addition, South Africa will chair the G20 in 2025. Although Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who passed the baton at the recent G20 summit, emphasized discussions on the fight against hunger and poverty, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are also on the agenda of the Rio de Janeiro meeting.
However, South Africa will probably be able to make a tangible impact on the crisis resolution only in cooperation, for example, with the African Union.
- Ukraine and its partners, i.e. the US and the EU, do not consider Pretoria a sufficiently weighty player in the international arena. Besides, Ramaphosa has looked like a troublemaker towards the Western world in recent years, including because of his tough stance on Gaza (South Africa sued Israel in the UN International Court of Justice, accusing it of genocide against the Palestinians. - Ed.). The African Union has its own architecture of world security, as well as experience in peacekeeping missions. And the United States, for example, would definitely not agree to the BRICS platform," Maya Nikolskaya, an expert of the Valdai Club and acting director of the Center for African Studies at the Institute of International Studies of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, told Izvestia.
Other BRICS members, primarily China and India, look more independent in the role of peacekeepers. These two nuclear powers are among the largest economies and the most populated countries in the world (almost a third of the planet lives in them). Beijing, sticking to neutrality, has long proposed various initiatives to resolve the crisis. Among the key ones is the 12-point peace plan issued in February 2023, which, incidentally, was also welcomed in the Kremlin, but not by the leadership of Western countries. In April 2023, the Chinese authorities also engaged in shuttle diplomacy. The Chinese government's special envoy for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui - by the way, a former Chinese ambassador to Russia - visited Russia, Ukraine, and Western countries involved in the conflict, including Poland, France, and Germany.
China probably cooperated with Brazil to strengthen its position on Ukraine - in May 2024 they presented a joint peace initiative, and in September they announced the creation of a "Friends of Peace" platform to discuss ways to resolve the conflict. It managed to attract a sufficient number of countries, including South Africa, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Mexico. On September 27, the first meeting of the participants was held on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York. Hungary, France and Switzerland were invited as observers, which emphasizes the declared inclusiveness of the platform.
Curiously, China has appointed a new ambassador to Ukraine. This happened the other day - that is, in fact, after Donald Trump's victory in the US elections. The president-elect, by the way, has repeatedly said that he could resolve the conflict in 24 hours. Beijing's current representative in Kiev, Ma Shengkun, previously served as deputy head of the Arms Control and Disarmament Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. It is quite possible that he will continue to monitor Western arms shipments, but only when he is directly on the territory of Ukraine.
India is not so active in the peacekeeping field, although Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly expressed his readiness to help resolve the crisis as soon as possible. The Indian Foreign Ministry said a month ago that the country was looking for "alternative ways" to resolve the conflict, but they have not yet been discussed. At the BRICS summit, Modi also met with Vladimir Putin and told him about his contacts with the Ukrainian leadership and New Delhi's readiness to contribute to resolving the situation.
