Vsevolod Sviridov believes that the mediation efforts of African countries are of particular importance, given their experience in conflict resolution and a balanced position on the situation in UkraineMOSCOW, May 17.
/tass/. The visit of the African mission to Moscow and Kiev is unlikely to help find a comprehensive solution to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, but it will contribute to achieving progress on certain issues, including those related to the lifting of sanctions restrictions on Russian goods. This opinion was expressed by Vsevolod Sviridov, an expert at the HSE Center for African Studies, in an interview with TASS on Wednesday.
Earlier, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of South Africa Naledi Pandor said that the leaders of African countries plan to visit Russia and Ukraine in the next few weeks to discuss the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. At the same time, South African leader Cyril Ramaposa noted on Tuesday that the Russian and Ukrainian authorities had agreed to receive a delegation from African countries. Ramaposa performed from a group of six African countries: Egypt, Zambia, the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Uganda and South Africa.
"It is not necessary to say that they will be able to stop the crisis, to find a comprehensive solution to the problem, of course. However, progress can be made on certain issues that are important for both Russia and Africa, for example, on the grain deal, financial issues, on the exclusion of specific categories of goods from sanctions, for example, energy carriers or rolled metal, facilitating the supply of fertilizers," the expert said.
As Sviridov noted, the mediation efforts of African countries in general are of particular importance, given their rich experience in conflict resolution and a balanced position on the situation in Ukraine. "Africans have demonstrated a balanced, adequate position on the crisis over the past year. And the more such sound forces participate in a peaceful settlement, the better Russia is, of course," the agency interlocutor stressed. He drew attention to the rich experience of African States, including South Africa, in the settlement of intra-African conflicts.
In turn, Natalia Tsizer, an expert of the Valdai International discussion club, chairman of the Board of the African Business Initiative Union, pointed out that the situation in Ukraine had a negative impact on African countries, and this is why their interest in a peaceful settlement of the conflict is conditioned.
"African states are far from the last to suffer greatly from the situation in Ukraine, ranging from food security to the political, economic and humanitarian situation. Therefore, the desire of African leaders to do everything possible to end the conflict, to come to some less acute phase, is absolutely obvious. In addition, you need to understand that South Africa, which initiated this process, is part of the BRICS alliance. There will be a BRICS summit in the near future, accordingly, the President of South Africa would like the BRICS to gather at this summit in full. Given the current situation, there are many questions around such visits," the analyst added.
