Seven African presidents to meet Putin and Zelensky

Members of the African Peace Initiative mission will travel to Ukraine and Russia next week to present their "road to peace" plan to the leaders of the two countries, the Brazzaville Foundation, an NGO facilitating the trip, announced on Wednesday.

The seven-member delegation is scheduled to be in Kiev on June 16 where they will meet President Vladimir Zelensky, the NGO said. The group will then be received by Russian president Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg on June 17, it stated.

Heads of state from South Africa, Comoros, the Republic of Congo, Uganda, Senegal, Zambia, and Egypt are leading the peace effort.

The African leaders held discussions earlier this week to explore ways of bringing an end to the conflict in Ukraine and agreed to visit both Moscow and Kiev in mid-June. They also put their respective foreign ministers in charge of finalizing the elements of a potential roadmap to peace.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that President Putin had agreed to host the group during a phone conversation with his South African counterpart.

South Africa’s presidency confirmed in a statement on Thursday that the Russian leader "welcomed the initiative by African Heads of State and expressed his desire to receive the peace mission." 

The South African government also stated last month that Zelensky had approved of the initiative and consented to host the leaders.