Putin spoke with African leaders for more than three hours

In the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg, negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of delegations of African states ended, the meeting lasted more than three hours, transmits TASS with reference to the press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov.

The Kremlin said the meeting began with an informal conversation that was “long and lively.” Then the negotiators moved to the hall for an official conversation.

As the Kremlin press service reported, representatives of seven African countries arrived in St. Petersburg to negotiate possible ways to resolve the situation around Ukraine. The delegation includes President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia, President of the African Union, President of the Comoros Azali Asumani, President of Senegal Macky Sall, President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, Prime Minister of Egypt Mustafa Madbouli, Minister of State, Director of the Cabinet of the President of the Congo Florent Ntsibah, as well as a special envoy Ruhakan Rugund, President-at-Large of Uganda.

During the Ramaphos meeting declaredthat it is time for Russia and Ukraine to start negotiations, and African countries can make a positive contribution to this process, he said. The President of the Russian Federation, in turn spoke out on the implementation of the grain deal and provided data on the supply of agricultural products to needy countries in Africa. Of the total volume, only 3.1% of the grain was exported there, Putin said. The head of state also for the first time showed initialed at last year’s negotiations in Turkey, an agreement between Kyiv and Moscow.