President of Republic of the Congo Seeks for Africa Peace Mission To Take Action

June 14, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso said Africa must take action to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine. “We are all suffering the effects of these wars directly on our peoples. Inflation is rising everywhere, and we believe that Africa cannot remain silent or indifferent in the face of such a tragedy,” Congolese President Nguesso said during a visit to Côte d’Ivoire on June 13.

TASS reports that he also spoke of the African peace mission, which he said was ready to travel to Russia and Ukraine. “It was agreed that a few heads of state, in fact one head of state per Central African sub-region plus the current President of the African Union, and that 5 or 6 heads of state could travel to Ukraine and Russia to bring a message of peace.” Nguesso declared.

His remarks follow a statement on May 16 by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that Russian and Ukrainian authorities had agreed to receive an African delegation to try to find ways to peacefully settle the conflict. Including South Africa, He spoke on behalf of six African states, Egypt, Zambia, the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, and Uganda. Comoros, the current African Union chair, also joined in later. Ramaphosa said he was ready to lead the African mission.

In response to a Parliamentary question on March 17, before the six states had formally decided on their peace effort, President Ramaphosa pointed to the increase in fuel and food costs in South Africa as a result of the war, in addition to the suffering in the Ukrainian and Russian peoples, and throughout the world as prompting their peace initiative. Among other things to address such tragic situations, he told Parliament: “We should also work to revitalize the Non-Aligned Movement, to ensure that those countries that are not part of the hegemonic contests between the big powers can work together to build peace across the globe.”

On June 6, South Africa hosted a meeting of the six Presidents to discuss how to go about their peace proposal, and on June 10 he briefed China’s President Xi Jinping on their thinking.