Prime
Rugunda, African leaders meet Putin over Ukraine war
Former Prime Minister of Uganda, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Saturday. PHOTO | PPU
What you need to know:
- Part of the peace mission discussion involved the Russia-Ukraine war that has destabilised the world economy since February last year.
The former Prime Minister of Uganda, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, together with other African leaders held peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg, Russia, at the weekend.
Part of the peace mission discussion involved the Russia-Ukraine war that has destabilised the world economy since February last year.
The delegation of African leaders from seven countries were led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The visit to Russia by the African leaders followed their first meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 16. The leaders advised Mr Zelensky to settle the conflicts through negotiations and diplomatic means, according to President Ramaphosa.
Position
A Saturday statement issued by Uganda’s Presidential Press Unit (PPU) indicates that Mr Ramaphopsa said: “This [Russia-Ukraine] war must be settled and there should be peace through negotiations and diplomatic means, and we should advance towards that peace because all wars in the end do come to an end.”
“We believe that this war should be brought to an end as quickly as possible,” he added, during a media briefing shortly after a closed-door meeting with President Zelensky.
However, reports from the Kyiv meeting indicate that President Zelensky ruled out talks with Russia as he met with the African leaders.
“I clearly said several times at our meetings that to allow any negotiations with Russia now that the occupier is on our land is to freeze the war, to freeze the pain and the suffering,” a source revealed.
Dr Ruhakana Rugunda represented President Museveni who has been on self-isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 a few days before the peace mission.
The head of State later emphasised his commitment to join the delegation until the last day when his health status forced him to delegate Dr Rugunda.
“We had to do [another Corona tests] because we had pressure on the diplomatic front because the other six presidents of Africa from the Comoros, Egypt, South Africa, Senegal, Congo-Brazzaville, and Zambia are supposed to arrive in Poland tomorrow [Thursday] to take the train trip to Kiev to mediate Russia-Ukraine war,” President Museveni said on Wednesday last week.
“I have now sent an official message that, on account of my continued corona status, I cannot join the group. Dr Ruhakana Rugunda will represent us… I wish the mission a success,” he added.
UN assembly
During last year’s emergency session of the UN’s General Assembly to vote on the Ukraine Crisis, Uganda was among the 35 countries which abstained or voted for neutrality, a decision that was taken to serve the interests of the two conflicting countries.
The other African leaders who are on the peace mission include the President of Senegal, Mr Macky Sall, President of Comoros, Azali Assoumani, President Hichilema Hakainde of Zambia, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and a special envoy representing the President of Congo Brazzaville.
