Putin takes African leaders on boat trip, they plan to "continue dialogue"

On Saturday, after the official talks were over, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the representatives of seven African countries went on an excursion to Peterhof by boat.

Source: Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, in an interview with Kremlin-aligned media TASS; Interfax, citing Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

Details: Putin and members of the African delegation went on a boat trip to Peterhof, a palace set in extensive grounds on the shore of the Gulf of Finland that the Russian emperors used as their official summer residence.

Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov confirmed to TASS that the trip had taken place. "Yes. They [Putin and the delegation] visited Peterhof," he said.

Earlier, Putin held talks with the African delegation regarding the war in Ukraine. The mission includes the President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema; the President of the Comoros Islands, Azali Assoumani, who currently also chairs the African Union; the President of Senegal, Macky Sall; the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, the Prime Minister of Egypt, Mostafa Madbouly; and special representatives of the Presidents of the Republic of Congo and Uganda, Florent Ntsiba and Ruhakana Rugunda.

The trip started at the Constantine Palace in Strelna, where talks lasting around three hours had taken place.

Peskov told journalists that Putin and the representatives of African countries are ready to talk further, although not all the provisions of their peace initiative correlate with the position of the Russian Federation.

"The African leaders and Putin expressed their political will to continue the dialogue, especially since we will all be meeting in the second half of July [at the Russia-Africa summit – ed.], which was also a topic of discussion. We will continue the conversation," Peskov said.

Peskov said the African countries’ initiative to settle the war is "very difficult to implement, difficult to compare positions". However, the Kremlin representative noted, "Putin has shown interest in considering it".

At the same time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told journalists that Russia shares the fundamental approaches of the African peace initiative, which align with China’s proposals.

Lavrov claimed that the members of the African delegation apparently displayed an understanding of the "true reasons" [from the aggressor country’s perspective – ed.] for the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine.

Background:

• On 16 June, a delegation from Africa arrived in Ukraine which included the presidents of South Africa, Comoros, Senegal and Zambia, the prime minister of Egypt, and special representatives of the Congo and Uganda. They want to act as peacemakers between Russia and Ukraine and agree on increasing the supply of grain and fertilisers from these two countries to their continent.
• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa named the 10 main "components" of the African Union's position on the Ukrainian-Russian war.
• Following the meeting, President Zelenskyy criticised the rhetoric of African leaders who refer to Russia's war against Ukraine as a "conflict" or "crisis". Ukraine’s president was also surprised that the representatives of African countries emphasised their own grain and fertiliser crises while avoiding commenting on the war in Ukraine.
• On 17 June, the African delegation met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who claimed that his logic regarding the war against Ukraine is "flawless" from the point of view of international law and the UN Charter.

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