US, UK View African Peace Mission On Ukraine As Premature - Former Nigerian President

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2023) The United States and the United Kingdom believe that the peace initiative on Ukraine suggested by several African nations earlier in May is premature and that the mission is taking place "not in the right time," former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Friday.

"They (the US State Department and the UK Foreign Office) made it clear this is not the right time," Obasanjo, who is a member of the advisory board of the Brazzaville Foundation engaged in the preparation of the African mission, told the Financial Times.

The former Nigerian leader noted he was also concerned about the peace initiative on Ukraine since it had gained no support from the African Union, under which he served as a mediator in the settlement of the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia in November 2020, the newspaper reported.

On May 16, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he had spoken to the Russian and Ukrainian leaders and presented them with a peace initiative from Zambia, Senegal, the Republic of Congo, Uganda, Egypt and South Africa. Both Russian and Ukrainian presidents agreed to receive a mission of leaders of African nations with their peace initiatives on the conflict, Ramaphosa added.

Meanwhile, the founder of the Brazzaville Foundation and initiator of the mission, Jean-Yves Olivier, told Sputnik that the main goal of the African mission is to initiate and assist in establishing a dialogue between Moscow and Kiev. He also noted that the negotiations under the auspices of the mission would be held without preconditions.