INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Putin on Saturday that the fighting had to stop.His delegation put forward a set of principles that the Kremlin deemed "very difficult to
implement," a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out talks with Moscow.The delegation brought the voice of a continent
through negotiations and through diplomatic means," South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa said after talks in the suburbs of St
Petersburg.Russian authorities have effectively banned the word "war" to describe their military operation in Ukraine.Ramaphosa added that
his delegation, which has leaders and senior officials from seven African countries, "would like this war to be ended."Ramaphosa listed 10
principles, which included de-escalation, the recognition of countries' sovereignty, security guarantees for all countries, unimpeded grain
exports through the Black Sea and sending prisoners of war and children back to their countries of origin.The mission included the
presidents of South Africa, Senegal, Comoros and Zambia, as well as top officials from Uganda, Egypt and Congo-Brazzaville.'Difficult to
implement'"Any initiative is very difficult to implement," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the state-run agency RIA
Novosti."But President Putin has shown interest in considering it," Peskov said after the leaders held a meeting behind closed
doors.Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the plan was "not formulated on paper."Putin had praised the delegation's "balanced"
approach and said he was "open to a constructive dialogue with all those who want to implement peace based on the principles of justice and
respect for the parties' legitimate interests."Moscow has in the past repeated that any negotiations would need to take into account "new
territorial realities."Zelensky, speaking on Friday after Ramaphosa called for de-escalation following their talks in Kyiv, repeated his
delegation's arrival earlier on Friday, forcing it to take shelter, Zelensky said it showed that Putin either did not control his army or
was "irrational."Focus on the battlefieldAfrican countries have been divided over their response to the fighting
While some have sided with Ukraine, others have remained neutral or gravitated toward Moscow.Efforts to secure peace appear increasingly
perilous, analysts told AFP, with both Kyiv and Moscow convinced they can win on the battlefield.Ukraine launched a long-awaited
the south.The Russian army, meanwhile, said it had repelled all assaults from Ukraine
Ramaphosa said ahead of formal talks with the Russian president.Putin said "the crisis on the global food market is by no means a
of Ukrainian grain supplies can solve the problems of poverty and hunger," Putin said during the meeting.Zelensky had asked the African
leaders to "please, let them release our political prisoners
I think this will be an important result of your mission."Referring to prisoners of war, Putin said on Saturday: "We are ready to continue
this process."In Ukraine, Russian and Ukrainian officials in the area devastated by flooding from the destruction of a Russian-held dam
announced revised death tolls Saturday.The toll in Russian-held areas had risen to 29, officials there said.Kyiv said the number killed in
its territory had risen to 16, with 31 still missing, and warned that the threat of air strikes "remains high across Ukraine.""The enemy
continues to focus its main efforts on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Maryinka axes and heavy battles continue," the defense ministry
said in a statement.In Washington, US President Joe Biden warned that the United States would not make special arrangements for Ukraine to
join the NATO military alliance."They've got to meet the same standards," he told reporters
"So we're not going to make it easy."Next week, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will call on investors and businesses at a two-day summit
in London to match Ukraine's "bravery on the battlefield" with support to get the country back on its feet.
