KIEV (dpa-AFX) – After meeting with a delegation of representatives from various African countries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has again rejected negotiations with Moscow ahead of a Russian troop withdrawal. “Allowing any talks with Russia while the occupier is on our soil means freezing the war, the pain and suffering,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Kiev on Friday, according to the Interfax-Ukraine agency. His country needs a real peace and at the same time “a real withdrawal of Russian troops from all our independent soil”.
Heads of state and government from Egypt, Senegal, Zambia, the Comoros and special representatives from Congo and Uganda traveled to Kiev under the leadership of South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa. The Africans want to explore possibilities for peace in the war that has been going on for almost 16 months. They also want to travel to St. Petersburg in Russia on Saturday. A meeting with the head of the Kremlin is also expected there Wladimir Putin./ast/DP/ngu