This morning, President Sall, who spent the night yesterday in Poland, is in Kyiv with the Presidents of Congo, Egypt, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia, in the framework of an African mediation. Although displaying a certain neutrality, Africa is affected by the Russia-Ukraine war. Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to Senegal and Guinea, Yurii Pyvovarov analyses this presidential visit.President Macky Sall travels to Kyiv with 5 other African Heads of State.  What comments do you have on it? What are Kyiv’s expectations of this African mediation?

It is an important African mission in Ukraine. If only because it is the first time that we will see such a representative delegation in our capital. To tell the truth, I really hoped that President Macky Sall would visit Kyiv last year, when he was the head of the African Union. Unfortunately, this visit did not take place, despite President Zelensky’s numerous invitations to visit Ukraine and see the situation with his own eyes.

But, it is already good that President Macky Sall is going to Kyiv as part of such an honorable delegation. As South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, the purpose of this mission is to initiate a peace negotiation process between Kyiv and Moscow in order to achieve a ceasefire and start peace negotiations. 

Of course, we will gladly listen to the vision and proposals of our African partners in this regard, but all these ideas must be correlated with the Ukrainian (and already international) vision of the real situation in Ukraine. I am referring to the well-known Peace Formula of President Zelensky, which is already supported by the international community and authoritative international organizations. This Peace Formula consists of ten specific and clear steps that should ultimately lead to peace. And the first key and decisive step for us is the withdrawal of the Russian occupation troops from the sovereign territory of Ukraine.

This is in fact a precondition for hypothetical negotiations with terrorist Russia. Frankly, personally, I have no confidence in the words of the Russians, because they are always liars and manipulators. Unfortunately, we had a lot of negative experiences in communication with Moscow, so I advise our African partners to pay attention to Russian promises.

Therefore, I do not have high hopes that the African mission will be able to explain and force the Kremlin boss to withdraw his criminals from Ukraine, because he does not want peace. It’s obvious. So, to be honest, I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel in this sensitive issue, since the Russian regime doesn’t want to hear the truth and understand the objective logic.
We have carefully reviewed several peace plans or initiatives proposed by China, Brazil and the Vatican. Unfortunately, not everyone saw the withdrawal of Russian occupation troops from Ukraine as a starting point for talks on the peace process. That is to say, they say “you must sit down at the negotiating table and cease fire”. But the question arises: under what conditions? I repeat: there will be no negotiations with terrorists without compliance with this key requirement. Otherwise, it will mean giving in to the demands of the Kremlin, freezing this Russian criminal war, or giving up our territory, which today remains occupied by Russian terrorists. That will never happen! This is absolutely unacceptable to us.

Therefore, if this honourable African mission manages to explain this to war criminal Putin and encourage him to withdraw his troops from Ukraine, then this peace initiative will be successful and we will be grateful to our African partners.

Today, is there a chance for peace to return quickly?

You must understand that no one else in the world wants peace on its territory more than Ukraine. We must drive this enemy from our territory. Of course, we are considering all possible means to end this war. One of these measures is the sending of intermediary missions to convey our messages and the truth to our enemy. But in reality, none of these missions, none of these peace plans, nor any of these initiatives can find arguments to encourage the aggressor to stop.

Even more, it is surprising that none of these missions find the courage to call Russia the aggressor, and this bloody Russian war continues to be obstinately called a conflict (and not a war!). As such, I do not believe that there is a chance to put a rapid end to the war today. I fear that the war will last a long time. Peace will return when we will have expulsed or destroyed this Russian enemy. This is the difficult and bitter truth that we live in Ukraine.  

I am more and more convinced that the negotiations with this barbaric and wild who do not accept civilised norms and concepts (without speaking of International Rights!), is only possible from the battlefields and in a position of strength. We do not have a choice; this is why we are desperately.

After this, is it possible for President Zelensky to visit Africa?

I cannot tell you if this African mission will encourage President Zelensky to visit Africa, most likely yes, but I can assure you that he has long considered the possibility of a tour of African countries. The realization of this idea was prevented by the Russian war. You understand that it is extremely difficult and risky, but despite this, his visit to Africa will take place. It is extremely important. We are working on it. For obvious reasons, I will not talk about the dates of the visit or the countries he will visit.