African leaders visit Russia to discuss their peace plan with Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday is set to host a group of African leaders who traveled to Russia on a self-styled “peace mission” after their trip to Ukraine.
Seven African leaders – presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, as well as Egypt’s prime minister and top envoys from the Republic of Congo and Uganda – visited Ukraine on Friday to try to help end their nearly 16-month-old war.
The African leaders traveled to St. Petersburg Saturday to meet with Putin who attended a business forum in Russia’s second-largest city.
The mission to Ukraine, the first of its kind by African leaders, comes in the wake of other peace initiatives – such as one by China – and carried particular importance for Africa that relies on food and fertilizer deliveries from Russia and Ukraine. The war has impeded exports from one of the world’s most important breadbaskets.