Ukrainian political analyst suggests Zimbabwe, South Africa play mediatory role to end war with Russia

UKRAINIAN political analyst and journalist Peter Zalmayev has suggested that Zimbabwe and neighbouring South Africa present themselves as mediators to end the war between his country and superpower Russia. Zalmayev, who is on a global tour to highlight implications of the war on Ukraine and other smaller countries, was recently in Zimbabwe, having already visited South Africa, eSwatini, Lesotho and some Pacific states. Named the Russo-Ukrainian War, the ongoing crisis began in February 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. The war escalated in 2022 when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbouring country, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths and a massive refugee crisis. Speaking to this publication in an exclusive interview, Zalmayev said the fact that Russia and Zimbabwe shared a lot of history and that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is assured of an ear in Moscow puts the country in an important position to help end the war. Russia actively took part in the training, clothing and arming of liberation movements in Zimbabwe’s fight for independence. South Africa, according to Zalmayev, offers another angle to potential mediation by virtue of being part of the BRICS union. BRICS, an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is an amalgamation of emerging markets. “It is these ties which make Zimbabwe and South Africa, which is in BRICS with Russia, very important interlocutors,” said Zalmayev. “Harare is on speaking terms with Moscow and my position is that it is best placed to reach out to Ukraine as well and suggest itself as a potential platform for negotiations to end the war. “Zimbabwe had been purchasing grain in Ukraine before the war broke out. Zimbabweans are also, in a way, feeling the effects of this war.” In 2022, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa led a nine-member Africa Union (AU) delegation to Moscow and Kyiv to understand and help mediate. Although they were received by both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the war continued. A study by the World Bank, United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) earlier this year predicted that US$542 billion is needed to reconstruct Ukraine in the next ten years following Russia’s intensive bombardments in the past three years. Added Zalmayev: “No one wins in this war. It violates the basic UN principle of sovereignty and infallibility of borders. It is in the interest of smaller countries that Ukraine is allowed to continue existing as an independent state. “If it falls, it will create a huge precedent wherein bigger countries can walk over and take over the smaller ones.” Before the escalation of the conflict, Ukraine was one of Zimbabwe and other countries in the region’s main sources of wheat and alternative grain imports.