Explosions Hit Kyiv as African Leaders Begin Peace Mission

Air raid sirens also blared in Kyiv as the visit began, the latest in a series of twists as the mission gets underway.

The leaders who are expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday and then travel to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Saturday, took cover in a bomb shelter.

The South African presidency posted footage of Ramaphosa arriving by train in the Bucha area near Kyiv after travelling from Poland, Al Jazeera reported.

Ramaphosa is heading a delegation, which also includes Assoumani and leaders from Zambia, Senegal, and Egypt’s prime minister.

Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Denis Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt were also meant to go along, but they pulled out of the trip and sent representatives.

The peace mission could propose a series of “confidence-building measures” during initial efforts at mediation, according to a draft framework document seen by the Reuters news agency.

The document stated that the objective of the mission is “to promote the importance of peace and to encourage the parties to agree to a diplomacy-led process of negotiations”.

Its measures could include a Russian pullback, removal of tactical nuclear weapons from Belarus and suspension of the implementation of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant targeting Putin.

A ceasefire could follow and would need to be accompanied by negotiations between Russia and the West, the document stated.

Kyiv said its own plan, which envisages the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian land, must be the basis for any settlement of the war.