Putin talks to African leaders about Ukraine

Vladimir Putin, head of state of the Russian Federation, yesterday received a delegation of African leaders who came to plead for peace in Ukraine.

Putin calls for justice

According to Al-Jazeera, Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, led a seven-member delegation of African leaders to present a ten-point peace plan to Putin. “This war has to … end,” he reportedly said, adding, “It must be settled through negotiations and through diplomatic means.” The other countries sending leaders included Egypt, the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Zambia, Uganda and Comoros.

Ramaphosa said the Ukraine war was “having a negative impact on the African continent and indeed, on many other countries around the world.” But Putin disputed the Africans on the causes of specific elements of that “negative impact.” For example, the Africans mentioned food shortages in some parts of the world. Putin blamed those on the policies of certain Western countries – whom Al-Jazeera did not name.

Currently grain is leaving Ukrainian ports under safe conduct through the Black Sea. But Putin said those exports don’t seem to be translating into relief from high food prices. Separately, Dmitri Peskov, speaking for the Kremlin, held out no hope of extending the safe-conduct arrangement.

The Russian leader also rejected out-of-hand any suggestion that Russia started the war. He said actions by Ukraine and the West started the war long before the Russian Special Military Operation began.

“We’re open to constructive dialogue with all those who want peace based on the principles of respect for each other’s interests, as well as justice,” Putin said.

Other reasons the war continues

Separately, Twitter user War Clandestine, who previously reported on biological weapons development laboratories in Ukraine, dropped a new thread.

The last tweet embeds an “infographic” that appears to lay out the Russians’ case for asserting not only that the United States has biological weapons development facilities in Ukraine, but exactly who is giving orders to whom for their maintenance and the “harvesting,” for lack of a better term, of their work products. Putin appears to lay the blame squarely on the U.S. Democratic Party, the “Big Pharma” companies, and well-known players. These last include EcoHealth Alliance and the Clinton Foundation. A section captioned “Executors in Ukraine” speaks of “creating elements of selective biological weapons.”

Russia have already stated they will ceasefire if the UN Security Council enact Articles V and VI of the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972, and investigate the US for their biological weapons production at the biolabs in Ukraine that the West claimed didn’t exist. Twitter user War Clandestine