Ukraine peace initiative puts Africa at the table, Zambian delegate says

The Ukraine peace initiative proposed by African nations proves that the continent is capable of influencing global events, Akende M’membe Chundama, the chairperson of Zambian Socialist Party, has told RT.

An African delegation held talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Kiev on Friday before meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg the following day, presenting a ten-point roadmap to end hostilities between the two countries.

The delegation included the presidents of South Africa, Senegal, Zambia, and the Comoros, as well as the Egyptian prime minister and senior officials from the Republic of Congo and Uganda.

“When it comes to the West, Africa isn’t taken seriously... They still live in neocolonialism. They still believe that Africa is a colony. So we’re not supposed to sit at the table, but this is showing us that Africa sits at the table,” Chundama said.

The Ukraine peace initiative is proof that “Africa can come to the table and say ‘Let’s have peace. And let’s talk about peace and how can we draw a roadmap to peace,’” she said.

“Africa needs to be taken seriously by the West, but they don’t have that spirit behind their ideological processes,” the politician added.

Lubinda Haabazoka, the director of the Graduate Business School at the University of Zambia, told RT that “those of us who understand the conflict from a neutral perspective... actually anticipated that Zelensky was going to refuse this deal” proposed by the African Union.

“Ukraine doesn’t have its own voice. Ukraine does what it’s told to do, so Ukraine is not independent at the moment, unfortunately,” Haabazoka added.

During their meeting on Saturday, Putin told the African leaders that Moscow had “never refused to conduct negotiations,” explaining that no peace process was in place because of Kiev’s unwillingness to engage in any talks.