President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa on Thursday held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ramaphosa thanked Putin for taking his call, in order to gain an understanding of the situation that was unfolding between Russia and Ukraine.
He said that during the conversation, he outlined the position on the conflict that has unfolded as well as their belief that the conflict should be resolved through mediation and negotiation between the parties.
“President Putin appreciated our balanced approach. We believe this position enables both parties to subject the conflict to mediation and negotiation,” Ramaphosa said.
“Based on our relations with the Russian Federation & as member of BRICS, South Africa has been approached to play a mediation role.”
The conversation comes hours after Senegal's President Macky Sall, who is the current head of the African Union (AU) spoken to Putin to urge a "lasting" ceasefire in Ukraine.
He is the second African leader to reveal that he has spoken to Putin -the other is Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.
In a tweet, Sall said: "As president of the African Union, I am delighted about my talk this morning with President Putin to press for a lasting ceasefire.
"I commend him for listening and for his willingness to maintain dialogue for a negotiated outcome to the conflict."
