President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and African leaders on a peace mission to Kyiv had testy exchanges Friday on how to end the war with Russia, hours after Russian forces fired missiles at the capital while the African heads of government were there.
The African leaders spoke of hope and dialogue after talking with Zelenskyy, but the Ukrainian leader ruled out peace talks until Moscow withdraws its troops from occupied territory, and he called for Russia to be frozen out diplomatically.
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa laid out a plan for de-escalation of fighting by both countries, a prisoner exchange, the return of children taken from Ukraine and the free flow of grain and fertilizer to world markets. But toward the end of their joint news conference, Zelenskyy said he did not clearly understand the "road map” mentioned by the visiting leaders, who will meet with President Vladimir Putin on Saturday in St. Petersburg, Russia.