MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ramophosa tells Putin Ukraine war needs to end

The conflict must be solved through diplomatic channels, Ramophosa insisted

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin during the weekend that the war in Ukraine must “come to an end” because it “has a negative impact on the African continent and of course on many other countries around the world.”

Ramophosa, who was heading a delegation of seven African countries seeking to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv, insisted that the Russian campaign “must be resolved through negotiations and diplomatic means.”

Both Russia and South Africa are partners of the BRICS trade bloc together with China, India, and Brazil.

Putin said his government welcomed “the balanced approach of African friends” to the Ukrainian conflict. “We appreciate their interest in finding a solution to the conflict,” he said, adding that the Russian side was “open to constructive dialogue with all those who wish to establish peace on the basis of the principles of justice and respect for the legitimate interests of the parties.”

On Friday when receiving the delegation in Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out the mediation attempt and stressed the counteroffensive launched by his country to regain territories seized by Russia since February 2022.

“Any kind of negotiations with Russia, when the occupier is on our land, would be tantamount to freezing the war, freezing the pain and suffering” and would be a “deception” that can serve Moscow, he declared.

Meanwhile, Russia's Minister of Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission Sergey Glaziev hinted BRICS was weighing the idea of launching a new international digital currency based on the national currencies of the group, analog to the euro.

“An open system that any country could join and in which a mechanism of the use of this currency in international payments would be legally endorsed? It is a very promising idea,” Glaziev told Sputnik at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

It would be “an international digital currency that would be based on a basket of national currencies,” he explained. ”It could be created on the basis of the New Development Bank that has a pool of currency reserves (...) Russia could organize next year, as president of BRICS, an international conference on the creation of such a currency,” Glaziev pointed out.

The 26th edition of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was held from June 14 to 17.