MEZIESBLOG

• South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that fighting in Ukraine had to stop as the African delegation continued their push for peace during talks in St Petersburg.

• Africa’s set of principles to bring about peace in Kremlin was deemed “very difficult to implement” by the Kremlin, although Vladimir Putin praised the delegation’s “balanced” approach.

• Exports of Ukrainian grain under a deal ensuring its safe passage through the Black Sea are not helping to resolve Africa’s problems with high global food prices as only 3 percent has gone to the poorest countries, Putin told African leaders.

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there appeared to be “no chance” of extending the deal permitting Ukraine to export grain safely across the Black Sea through Russian-controlled waters.

• Ukrainian forces have taken control of the settlement of Piatykhatky on the Zaporizhzhia battle front, a Russian-installed official said on Sunday.

• African states plan to continue their efforts to seek a resolution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and a ceasefire would pave the way for “serious negotiations”, Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said.

•  Ukrainian authorities reported 16 dead and 31 missing from the floods triggered by the destruction of a Russian-held dam, for which Kyiv and Moscow blame each other. 

• The death toll from the floods in Russian-occupied areas of southern Ukraine has risen to 29, a regional official said.

• Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Synehubov revised the death toll from a Russian missile strike on a small Ukrainian village in the east to two people.

• Ukrainian forces destroyed a “significant” ammunition depot near the Russian-occupied port city of Henichesk in the southern region of Kherson, a spokesperson for the Odesa military administration said.

• Russian news agencies reported Ukrainian shelling had killed two people in the Russian-held part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, citing an unnamed emergency service representative.