World Leaders Push For Russia, Ukraine Peace Deal

Facts

• As the Russia-Ukraine war approaches the 15-month mark, leaders from across the world this week pushed for a diplomatic solution to bring the conflict to a close.¹
• On Tuesday, South African Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa announced that both Russia and Ukraine had agreed to meet a group of African leaders — consisting of his country along with Senegal, Uganda, Egypt, the Republic of the Congo, and Zambia — with the aim of seeking a political solution to the war.²
• Commenting on the talks, Ramaphosa said that "discussions with the two leaders" revealed they were "both ready" for discourse about "how this conflict can be brought to an end," adding that a route towards settling the conflict would depend on "the discussions that will be held." He also stated that the US and the UK had expressed "cautious" support for the plan, while the UN had been briefed on developments.²
• The news came as China's Li Hui — a former ambassador to Russia who was recently appointed Beijing's special envoy of its attempts to solve the conflict — met with Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other senior officials on Tuesday and Wednesday. He will reportedly travel to Poland, France, Germany, and Russia as discourse continues.³
• In his latest report, veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, citing US intelligence officials, said that Poland was leading a group of countries including Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic, and Latvia in an effort to push Zelenskyy to find a solution. Hersh reported: "[Poland] has been quietly urging Zelenskyy to find a way to end the war — even by resigning himself, if necessary — and to allow the process of rebuilding his nation to get under way."⁴
• In the meantime, ahead of the next G7 summit that will commence in the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Friday, an EU official told Reuters that attendants are planning to discuss the possibility of an international peace summit on the Ukraine war.⁵

Sources: ¹The Moscow Times, ²CNBC Africa, ³CNN, ⁴Seymour Hersh, and ⁵Yahoo News.

Narratives

• Pro-Ukraine narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. Ukraine welcomes efforts to bring peace and stop Russia's aggression. However, Kyiv cannot accept any peace proposal that involves giving up its own territory or enabling Russia to pause the conflict just so that it can restrengthen before enacting another strategic attack.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by TASS. There are many countries offering to mediate a peace settlement. Russia welcomes all initiatives aimed at bringing a resolution to the conflict, as long as Russia's primary concerns that led it to embark on the special military operation are addressed.

Predictions