Seven African leaders will meet President Zelensky in Kyiv to talk about how they can bring the war there closer to an end.
The delegations are South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and include senior representatives of Egypt, Senegal, Comoros, Uganda, Zambia, and the Republic of the Congo. Others are Senegalese President Macky Sall, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema and Azali Assoumani, the president of Comoros and current chairperson of the African Union.
The seven leaders will also travel to Moscow to meet St Petersburg in Russia to meet President Putin on Saturday to bring finality to the war.
They’re on a peace mission, though the initial goals may be modest.
There is also a meeting of Nato defence ministers happening in Brussels.
Who’s behind this peace initiative?
This peace mission is being facilitated by the Brazzaville Foundation – an independent non-profit organisation whose goal is to develop initiatives to prevent conflict, mainly in Africa.
It is led by Frenchman Jean-Yves Ollivier, who has previously helped secure the release of hostages in the Central African Republic and mediate a power-sharing deal in the Democratic Republic of Congo
When it comes to the war in Ukraine, the foundation has stressed the need for dialogue, and its members have met both representatives of Ukraine and Russia over the past few months.
The foundation’s goal is “to facilitate a resumption of talks between the two countries”, according to its website, and its members hope to make progress on that front during these visits to Kyiv and Moscow.
Ukraine says Russia abducted 150 children
Let’s move away from the diplomatic movements of the day briefly to pick up some other developments.
Ukraine is reporting the abduction of some 150 children from the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, in the east of the country.
According to the National Resistance Centre of Ukraine, the children were “illegally taken” from Luhansk’s Starobilsk district on 8 June and transported to two centres in Russia’s southern Karachay-Cherkess region.
The centre also reports that some children in occupied areas of Ukraine are being forced to undergo “preventative medical exams”, saying that those who do not pass are being sent to Russia “for treatment”.
Ukrainian officials say more than 19,000 children have been taken from occupied areas since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Earlier this year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s President Putin, alleging he was responsible for war crimes over the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
Moscow has denied all the allegations.
