Rockets over Kyiv, even as leaders from seven African nations arrived in the Ukrainian capital as part of a peace mission. The African delegation, which includes South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, will meet with Ukraine's.
Volodymyr Zelensky today before heading to Russia for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Saturday. Sam Kiley joins me now live from Kiev. What do you make about the timing of these latest missiles, Sam? Well, I think it could indicate.
One of two things, to be honest, Max. The first is that the Russians are prosecuting a military agenda without regard for the diplomatic fallout, if you'll excuse the pun, of firing missiles into a capital city.
At a time when heads of government ministers and heads of state indeed are visiting from an important continent that the Kremlin itself is trying to court or they're sending a message to those African leaders that they are trying to call,.
That they just don't matter. Because in the past, there's been a bit of an understanding that when major world dignitaries, heads of government, heads of state come to Kiev, the Russians appear to ease off in terms of their strikes. But that wasn't the case.
Last night with them firing. Among other things, six kinds of missiles which were brought down, one assumes, by Patriot missiles. The Germans have just announced they're going to give an extra 40 missiles, not missile systems, but 40 missiles to replenish the stocks.
That are fast dwindling for the Ukrainians. There are other pledges, of course, coming from other allies, but the Africans in particular, the form of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, have been very close to the Kremlin in many ways.
Recently with joint military exercises with South Africa. South African head of the armed forces visiting Moscow, the Sergei Lavrov, the South African foreign minister, attending a meeting, diplomatic meetings in South Africa.
And the United States accusing South Africa of effectively supplying arms bribery in breach of an arms embargo potentially against Russia. So all of this adding up to what should have been rather cordial relations and therefore an easing off.
Of the air strikes against the African leaders that have come here. But we saw the exact reverse, Max. A lot of African leaders, obviously, I'm used to being lectured by the by the West on how to handle their own conflicts. How do you think they're going.
Into these talks and what sort of solutions do you think they'll be suggesting Well, from a benign perspective, if one puts aside for a second the fact that many of these African leaders are schooled in the history of the Cold War,.
As we all are of a certain age, and therefore understand that they can play Russia, what was the Soviet Union now Russia off against Western interests to their own advantage. So there may be some advantage that they're prosecuting there.
But these are also people who have experience in many cases of conflicts themselves. The South Africans, of course, emerge from the conflict that was apartheid. Others among them have either been in or even enduring the effects of civil war in the past or international war. So they have a lot of experience.
Their proposals, though, are the sorts of proposals that, among other things, they're very close really to the international view, to the Ukrainian view, which is there should be a complete Russian withdrawal.
From the territories that they've illegally occupied in this country. That is going to be what inevitably will be rejected by Russia. But they're hoping perhaps that because of their role enabled in that.
They're able to talk to both sides. Perhaps they can achieve a breakthrough that clearly has been somewhat undermined by a missile attack against the capital that they're visiting when they were scheduled to meet with the country's president. They may be a little bit anxious.
That perhaps they may be targeted, along with President Zelensky later on today. Perhaps the Kremlin says Putin supports any set of ideas and conflict in Ukraine. What do you think he meant by that and how will it be received where you are Well,.
He doesn't support the idea that he should unilaterally withdraw from Ukraine because he doesn't believe that Ukraine has a right to exist. So it's not really going to get anywhere in the discussions. There are no discussions.
There's no prospect whatsoever of the Ukrainians joining any kind of diplomatic initiative. That doesn't begin with a total withdrawal of every single Russian soldier from every inch of Ukrainian territory. That is their position right now.
That is a position that their NATO's partners are full throated in their support of. Whether that's a position that prevails over the over the next few years, depending on how this war goes, I think will be open to question. But they are intent on.
Driving the Russians out of their territory. They've launched this counteroffensive heavy fighting in the southeast, as you said there, Max, and in the east, that is expected to increase. There is increasing amount of support.
Coming from NATO's partners to allow that counteroffensive by the Ukrainians to be prosecuted. There is a hope among the allies that the Russians will be driven out. There's also criticism of those allies that they always supply too little, too late,.
That they're not really giving the Ukrainians the strategic edge, at least not yet Max. Okay. Sam Kiley, thanks for joining us from Keith.
US needs to weaken Russia as mighty as that you just may perhaps additionally imagine,so .
The south African diplomats tweeted that there had been zero explosions or the relaxation…. Staged kyiv bull🤡
Afro populations in Europe and critically in the Americas luxuriate in never viewed so many licks given by western propaganda machines, they’re licking so mighty that they may perhaps even turn mild.