African leaders visited with a peace plan. Putin showed little interest.
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RIGA, Latvia — When Russian President Vladimir Putin met African leaders in St. Petersburg over the weekend, he swiftly conveyed his effective dismissal of their plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, which called for military de-escalation and the return of war-affected children to their home country. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia’s war in Ukraine. ArrowRight Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was equally cool a day earlier, saying there can be no peace deal unless Russia withdraws its forces from Ukrainian territory.
But Russia’s missile attack on Kyiv at the very moment the peace mission was on the ground conveyed disrespect to the seven-nation African delegation, including four presidents. It was an affront that analysts said was likely to tarnish Putin’s reputation in Africa ahead of next month’s Russia-Africa Summit, which is designed to showcase support for Russia in the Global South.
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William Gumede, professor at the University of Witwatersrand School of Governance in Johannesburg and head of the Democracy Works Foundation, said that African leaders expected that Russia would refrain from attacks during their visit to the Ukrainian capital.
Instead, Russia fired a barrage including six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, six Kalibr missiles and two drones, according to Ukraine’s military.
“Normally what you would expect, and what the Africans expected, was that at least during that period there would be some kind of cease-fire, and Russians won’t be shooting anything,” Gumede said. “But there was disappointment that during that trip, Putin actually flexed his muscles.”
South Africa’s presidential spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, initially dismissed the Russian missile attack as “disinformation,” but he was later contradicted by his boss, President Cyril Ramaphosa.
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“There’s a reason why [Magwenya] said that — because they could not believe that it was happening. It had to be fake news, because it can’t be real,” Gumede said.
At the same time, the African delegation never expected a swift breakthrough, he added. But Putin’s swift rejection of key elements of their 10-point peace plan conveyed the clear message that despite his frequent claim to be “open to negotiations,” the Russian leader still expects Kyiv to capitulate to his illegal seizure of Ukrainian territory.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday there was no “stable footing” for negotiations, blaming Kyiv and playing down the “potential productivity” of any future discussions with African leaders about peace.
According to the analysts, Putin’s interruption of the African leaders’ presentations at Saturday’s meeting in the Konstantinovsky Palace on the Gulf of Finland was also seen as a disrespectful snub that could weaken his support in Africa, where the meeting was closely watched.
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In addition to Ramaphosa, the delegation included African Union chairman and Comoros President Azali Assoumani, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, and representatives of Uganda and the Republic of Congo.
A Kremlin transcript showed that Putin allowed three presidents to speak but intervened to express his disagreement with the African position, before Hichilema and three other representatives finished the presentation.
Putin treated the African leaders “like little children,” said political analyst Justice Malala, author of “The Plot to Save South Africa.” “You just don’t do that. You have seven people who are supposed to speak and after three of them you stop them and say you don’t know what you are talking about. It’s a huge snub, and it’s seen as that,” Malala said.
Putin, after interrupting, went on to insist that “Western sponsors,” not Russia, had started the war and rejected African calls to return children caught up in the war to their home country. Putin, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court over the removal of Ukrainian children to Russia, claimed that, “We took them out of the conflict zone, saving their lives and health. That’s what happened.”
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“The way Putin responded to them I think will actually undermine Putin’s influence in Africa going forward, not only Africa but South Africa and the ANC,” said Gumede, referring to both the missile strikes and to Putin’s conduct at the St. Petersburg meeting.
“ANC members out of this got a much better picture of Putin as a dictator, not caring about anything else but his own position and stature,” he said.
Many African nations resent being pressured by Washington or Moscow to take a side in the war, and have abstained from or opposed U.N. votes condemning Russian aggression.
South Africa’s governing African National Congress, however, is perceived in the West as being pro-Russian, given its historical Soviet ties and its professed friendly relations with Moscow. For Ramaphosa, the trip to Ukraine and Russia was a chance to reset those perceptions — especially after the United States in May accused South Africa of supplying weapons to Russia.
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Malala said Ramaphosa hoped to neutralize the damage to South Africa over the ANC’s strong pro-Russian stance, amid fears the country could lose duty-free access to the United States for thousands of products under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
“For me it would be a miracle if Ramaphosa got a win out of this,” Malala said. “Quite frankly, the Ukrainians don’t trust the South Africans anymore,” he said. Putin’s conduct at Saturday’s meeting suggested he saw Ramaphosa as “a joke,” he added.
Ramaphosa has set up an independent inquiry on whether a Russian cargo ship, Lady R, which docked at a South Africa naval base in December, shipped arms to Russia, but its findings will be kept secret, making it difficult to assuage doubts.
Ramaphosa also met Putin separately to discuss the difficult matter of the Russian leader’s attendance at the BRICS summit in South Africa in August, when South African authorities would be obliged to arrest Putin because of the ICC indictment.
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There is no easy way around this, with the Rome Statute that established the ICC enshrined in South African law. Removing the obligation to arrest him would require a parliamentary vote, which would have to be confirmed by the South African constitutional Court.
“What I am hearing is that Putin has been insisting — up to now — that he has been wanting to come,” Gumede said. “I think what South Africa has been trying to explain to Russia and China is that it’s not as simple as giving Putin amnesty.”
Gumede said the ANC could not guarantee a majority vote on ditching the Rome Statute in Parliament “because a lot of its own members want to see Putin arrested.” Any such move would be opposed in the constitutional court by civil society and opposition parties, he added.
South Africa’s initial response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a call on Russia to “immediately withdraw” its forces. But in February, it hosted naval exercises including Russia and in May sent its army commander, Lt. Gen. Lawrence Mbatha, to Moscow for talks on “combat readiness,” raising doubts about South Africa’s claims to nonaligned status.
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Addressing Putin during Saturday’s meeting, Ramaphosa called for an end to the war, outlining aspects of the African peace plan, including support for national sovereignty and the U.N. Charter, which prohibits aggression unless in self-defense.
In response, Putin repeated his false claim that Russia’s invasion was launched in 2014 by “Western sponsors,” through a Ukrainian “coup,” referring to the Maidan Revolution, known in Ukraine as the “Revolution of Dignity.” In fact, Maidan was a popular uprising against President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country.
The African delegation also expressed concern about the impact of the war on food security in Africa, because of food and fertilizer price hikes. But Putin denied the war had caused the food security problem, while adding that only 3 percent of grain exported under the deal went to Africa, fueling doubts on the deal’s future.
But it was the missile strike on Kyiv that may have made the lasting impact on the Africa leaders. The message, Malala said, was “‘You’re useful, you guys, when you say you’re nonaligned but other than that we can do whatever we like.’”
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Source: The Washington Post
