Cyril Ramaphosa and other African leaders met the Ukrainian and Russian presidents in their peace bid.
By Antoinette RadfordThe war in Ukraine must end, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has told Russia's leader Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky told the delegation on Friday that he would not enter talks with Russia while they occupied Ukrainian land.At the meeting in St Petersburg, Mr Ramaphosa also called for both parties to return their prisoners of war, and said children removed by Russia should be returned home."The war cannot go on forever. All wars have to be settled and come to an end at some stage," he said.
But Mr Putin blamed the West for the grain crisis - not the war in Ukraine - as he said only 3% of the grain exports permitted under a UN-sponsored deal to ensure its safe passage through the Black Sea had gone to the worlds poorest countries.Prior to arriving in Russia, the delegation from South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Congo-Brazzaville, Comoros, Zambia, and Uganda met Ukrainian leaders.During a visit to Kyiv on Friday, Mr Ramaphosa warned the war in Europe was affecting between 1.2 and 1.
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