Children Held Hostage In Ukrainian Conflict Should Be Returned Home - Ramaphosa

One of the points of the African peace initiative to resolve the Ukrainian conflict is the return of children to their homes, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday

STRELNA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th June, 2023) One of the points of the African peace initiative to resolve the Ukrainian conflict is the return of children to their homes, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday.

Ramaphosa presented a 10-point African peace initiative to resolve the conflict in Ukraine to Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.

"Point eight ... it concerns the release of prisoners of war from both sides. A related issue concerns children who have been taken hostage in the conflict. These children need to be returned to where they came from, to their homes," Ramaphosa said.

Earlier on Saturday, Putin personally received and greeted the African delegates at the Konstantinovsky Palace to discuss the joint African peace initiative on Ukraine.

In November 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message to the G20 summit that Kiev did not want to sign a peace agreement that would be against its interests and which Moscow would allegedly "violate immediately after the signing." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on Zelenskyy's statement, said that his words "absolutely confirm" Kiev's unwillingness to negotiate.