Putin meets African leaders in Russia to discuss Ukraine peace plan

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (Evgeny Biyatov/Photo host Agency RIA Novosti/AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday met a group of leaders of African countries who travelled to Russia on a self-styled “peace mission” the day after they went to Ukraine, but the meeting ended with no visible progress.

The seven African leaders – presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, as well as Egypt’s prime minister and top envoys from the Republic of Congo and Uganda – visited Ukraine on Friday to try to help end the nearly 16-month-old war.