On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that an African plan may serve as a foundation for peace in Ukraine, but that Ukrainian aggression made it difficult to implement.
He was addressing at a news conference after meeting with African leaders in St. Petersburg on Friday and hearing their requests for Moscow to proceed with their plan.
“There are provisions of this peace initiative that are being implemented,” he said. “But there are things that are difficult or impossible to implement.”
According to Reuters, African mediation in the crisis might start with confidence-building measures, followed by a cease-fire agreement accompanied by discussions between Russia and the West.
Mr. Putin said that one of the points in the initiative was a ceasefire. “But the Ukrainian army is on the offensive, they are attacking, they are implementing a large-scale strategic offensive operation… We cannot cease fire when we are under attack.”
On the question of starting peace talks, he said, “We did not reject them … In order for this process to begin, there needs to be agreement on both sides.”
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected the concept of a ceasefire today, which would give Russia control of roughly a fifth of his nation and allow its soldiers to recover after 17 months of conflict.
