The Russian president commented on the peace plan in Moscow at the meeting of the leaders of seven African countries. The matter was reported by Reuters.
The presidents of Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, the Republic of Congo, the Comoros and South Africa brought a fresh Ukrainian peace plan to Moscow.
According to the leaders of African countries, the war in Ukraine also affects their continent.
At the meeting, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin however, he was apparently waving the draft agreement drawn up in Istanbul in the spring of 2022 during the peace consultation, so not a new peace proposal.
– He [Zelenskyi] signed this. Here it is. It exists, Putin began.
– Article 18, military affairs and others. There it is, black and white. About the number of soldiers and weapons and more.
According to Putin, the paper is titled Agreement on Permanent Neutrality and Security Guarantees for Ukraine.
– Guarantees, as you already said my dear friend, the President of South Africa.
Before the attack on Ukraine, Russia applied for something similar, when the country sent letters to various European countries and applied for “security guarantees” for itself.
The letters asked urgently to find out how the countries intend to fulfill their obligation not to strengthen their own security at the expense of the security of others.
Russia: A crisis created by the West
In his speech to the presidents of African countries, Putin still refers to the old draft agreement:
– But after, as we promised, we withdrew our troops from Kiev, then Kiev, as their host usually does, threw all history into the garbage heap, to put it mildly and I’m trying to be polite. Where are the guarantees that they wouldn’t do that to this piece of paper as well, Putin asked.
Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on the other hand stated that “Russia shares views on the main points” in the new peace proposal. However, as seen before, he blames the West for everything.
– The conclusion from today’s discussions is that our partners have shown that they understand the starting points of the crisis created by the West, Lavrov summed up.
The leaders of African countries traveled to Moscow from Kyiv. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi stated earlier in the weekend in his video message that Ukraine is preparing a summit related to achieving peace in Ukraine.
Source: Reuters