The plane with the protection of the President of South Africa was unable to fly from Poland to Russia

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg without the presence of security personnel, as the plane with the delegation was not allowed to fly from Poland to Russia, transmits radio station Eyewitness.

According to the radio station, about 100 security officers and 12 journalists could not get into St. Petersburg. It is noted that the plane did not receive permission to fly through the airspace of Hungary, the South African Airways flight was delayed for another 26 hours on June 15 due to problems with permits for weapons that were on board. The Ramaphosa security department accused the Polish government of racism and a threat to the security of the president, writes Eyewitness.

The presidential administration later reported that Ramaphosa arrived in Saint-Petersburg. Prior to this, the head of the African state held “constructive” talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the report said. In St. Petersburg, Ramaphosa is expected to meet with President Vladimir Putin along with the heads of state of Zambia, the Comoros and Senegal, as well as the heads of government of Congo, Brazzaville, Egypt and Uganda. African leaders intend to reach a settlement of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

In mid-May, Ramaphosa, following a conversation with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, said that they had agreed to accept the mission of African leaders to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. At the same time, Ramaphosa noted that he would not accept one of the parties to the conflict in Ukraine and advocated an urgent cessation of hostilities.