Associated Press

Kyiv

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday met with a group of leaders of African countries who travelled to Russia on a self-styled “peace mission” the day after they went to Ukraine.

Seven African leaders — the presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, as well as Egypt’s prime minister and top envoys from the
Republic of Congo and Uganda — visited Ukraine on Friday to try to help end the nearly 16-month-old war.

The African leaders then travelled to St. Petersburg on Saturday to meet with Putin who is attending a business forum in Russia’s second-largest city.

Putin and the African leaders weren’t expected to comment after the meeting, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold a briefing.

Speaking at the forum on Friday, Putin declared that the first Russian tactical nuclear weapons have been deployed to Belarus, describing the move as a deterrent against Western efforts to defeat Russia in Ukraine. He previously said that the deployment would begin in July.

Asked if he could order the use of battlefield nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Putin said that there was no need for that but noted that Moscow could use its nuclear arsenals in case of a “threat to the Russian statehood.”

“In that case, we will certainly use all the means that the Russian state has. There should be no doubt about that,” he said.

The mission to Ukraine, the first-of-its-kind by African leaders, comes in the wake of other peace initiatives — such as one by China — and carries particular importance for Africa, which relies on food and fertiliser deliveries from Russia and Ukraine. The war has impeded exports from one of the world’s most important breadbaskets.

“This conflict is affecting Africa negatively,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said at a news conference alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and four other African leaders after their closed-door talks on Friday.