South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, head of a delegation of African mediators on the Ukrainian conflict, arrived in Russia today after visiting Kiev the previous day, the South African presidency announced.

“President Ramaphosa has arrived in St. Petersburg,” in northwestern Russia, where he is to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin before holding a meeting with African mediators, the South African presidency said on Twitter.

Ramaphosa, whose visit to Russia is aimed at “continuing the efforts of the African Peacekeeping Mission”, arrived in St Petersburg after “constructive discussions he had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky” in Kiev yesterday, according to a statement he gave to publicity the South African Presidency.

Along with the presidents of Zambia, Comoros and Senegal, as well as representatives of Congo, Uganda and Egypt, Ramaphosa will meet Putin “to seek a path to peace after 16 months of Russian-Ukrainian conflict which has caused (. ..) global instability,” according to the same source.