Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed during an African leaders meeting in St. Petersburg that Russian forces had withdrawn from Kiev and other regions of Ukraine last year in compliance with a peace agreement reached in Turkey, as part of an African mediation mission to Russia.

However, during the meeting with the members of the African delegation, who were entrusted with presenting an initiative to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, Putin informed them that Kiev had declined to sign the pact following the voluntary departure of Russian troops.

The Russian head of state presented the document negotiated by both sides, entitled “The Treaty of Permanent Neutrality and Security Guarantees for Ukraine.”

​He explained that Moscow and Kiev initially accepted a draft agreement in the spring of 2022 in Istanbul, in which China, Russia, the United States, France and Turkey acted as guarantors.

At the time, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a visit to Ukraine, various media outlets, including those in Russia, swiftly linked his trip to Volodymyr Zelensky’s refusal to endorse the agreement.

Media outlets such as Foreign Affairs attested to Johnson’s efforts to thwart the deal for two reasons he believed to be valid: First, it is not possible to negotiate with Putin, and second, the West is not prepared for an end to the war.

According to Responsible Statecraft, Saturday’s release of this document casts doubt on Ukrainian narratives regarding Russia’s defeat in the Battle of Kiev in the spring of last year and its withdrawal from the surrounding area.
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In particular, it serves to underscore how Ukraine is being used as part of a calculated maneuver in the Western proxy war against Russia, further clarifying Ukraine’s sacrificial role.

The Russian President also explained that the world food crisis was caused by the actions of Western countries, which started long before the armed conflict not by Russian military operations in Ukraine.

Putin expressed his country’s readiness to establish a constructive dialogue with those who want peace, and praised the balanced approach of the African delegation’s mediators to the conflict.
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The African mission visiting Russia includes four presidents: South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, Senegal’s Macky Sall, Zambia’s Hakende Hichilema, and the Comoros’ Ghazali Osmani, also the rotating chairman of the African Union. There are also representatives from Congo-Brazzaville, Uganda, and Egypt.