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African Delegation, Including Egypt, Visits Ukraine on Peace Mission

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa looks on before a bilateral meeting as part of the 111th International Labor Conference (ILO) at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 14 June 2023. EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa looks on before a bilateral meeting as part of the 111th International Labor Conference (ILO) at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 14 June 2023. EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI
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African Delegation, Including Egypt, Visits Ukraine on Peace Mission

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa looks on before a bilateral meeting as part of the 111th International Labor Conference (ILO) at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 14 June 2023. EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa looks on before a bilateral meeting as part of the 111th International Labor Conference (ILO) at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 14 June 2023. EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in Ukraine on Friday as part of an African peace mission that includes Egypt, the South African presidency said on Twitter.

Ramaphosa is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday and then travel to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Saturday.

The South African presidency posted footage of Ramaphosa arriving by train in the Bucha area near Kyiv after travelling via Poland.

Along with Senegal President Macky Sall, Ramaphosa is heading a delegation including leaders from Zambia, the Comoros, and Egypt's prime minister.

The peace mission could propose a series of "confidence building measures" during initial efforts at mediation, according to a draft framework document seen by Reuters.

The document states that the objective of the mission is "to promote the importance of peace and to encourage the parties to agree to a diplomacy-led process of negotiations".

Those measures could include a Russian troop pull-back, removal of tactical nuclear weapons from Belarus, suspension of implementation of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant targeting Putin, and sanctions relief, it indicated.

A cessation of hostilities agreement could follow and would need to be accompanied by negotiations between Russia and the West, the document stated.

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Russia Says French Citizen Pleads Guilty to Illegally Collecting Military Details

People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 02 July 2024. The temperature in Moscow exceeded 32 degrees Celsius. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 02 July 2024. The temperature in Moscow exceeded 32 degrees Celsius. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
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Russia Says French Citizen Pleads Guilty to Illegally Collecting Military Details

People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 02 July 2024. The temperature in Moscow exceeded 32 degrees Celsius. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 02 July 2024. The temperature in Moscow exceeded 32 degrees Celsius. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

Russian investigators said on Wednesday that French researcher Laurent Vinatier, who was detained last month and accused of failing to register as a foreign agent while illegally collecting sensitive military information, had pleaded guilty during questioning.

Vinatier, an expert with long experience of working in Russia, was shown last month being arrested in a central Moscow restaurant by masked officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.
He is accused of failing to register as a foreign agent and intentionally collecting military information which could be used by foreign intelligence services to damage the security of Russia, Reuters reported.
French President Emmanuel Macron denied that Vinatier, an employee of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), a Swiss-based conflict mediation group, worked for the French state. Macron described his arrest as part of a disinformation campaign by Moscow.
"The French citizen has pleaded guilty in a criminal case on illegal collection of information in the field of Russian military activities," Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.
"During the interrogation, he admitted his guilt in full."
A representative of HD had no immediate comment.
Russian investigators said that Vinatier had for several years failed to comply with the Russian law on foreign agents and had collected military information at meetings with Russian citizens.
The Investigative Committee said that seven witnesses who Vinatier had tried to collect military information from had been questioned - and that it had recordings of some of their meetings.
"A linguistic forensic examination has been scheduled based on audio recordings of these meetings," the committee said.
In a statement following Vinatier's arrest, his employer HD said: "In the course of HD’s activities as an impartial and independent mediation organization, our people work around the world and routinely meet with a wide range of officials, experts and other parties with the aim of advancing efforts to prevent, mitigate and resolve armed conflict."
Vinatier, 47, could face up to five years in prison. He was placed in pre-trial custody until Aug. 5, despite a request to free him endorsed by the French embassy.