The French Businessman Behind Africa’s Ambitious Russia-Ukraine Peace Plan

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As six African leaders prepare to travel to Russia and Ukraine in pursuit of what may be the most ambitious effort yet to end the war between the two nations, at the heart of this initiative is a French businessman with an extensive history of successful mediation.

“At a certain moment in your life, you have some tools. And I have some tools,” Jean-Yves Ollivier, president of the London-based Brazzaville Foundation told Newsweek.

Ollivier is perhaps best known for his decades-long peacemaking efforts in Africa, where his role in high-stakes negotiations has helped to bring about prisoner releases, and troop withdrawals and even contributed to the end of wars. He has the rare distinction of being awarded honors by South African governments both before and after the fall of apartheid.

When, three decades later, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Tuesday that he would be joining his counterparts from Egypt, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Senegal, Uganda and Zambia, for an upcoming trip to the rival capitals of Kyiv and Moscow, it was Ollivier that played a pivotal role in making arrangements.

French businessman Jean-Yves Ollivier is seen in this photo shared with Newsweek on May 19, 2023. Using parallel diplomacy, Ollivier has helped to secure the release of French hostages in Lebanon, facilitate an end to the long-running South African Border War and establish a power-sharing agreement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among other initiatives.
Newsweek

“Most of them were my personal friends,” Olliver said. “Why not have a peace mission, an independent peace mission led by heads of state representing Africa? And we started negotiating with Moscow and Kyiv about it.”

“We found them receptive,” he added.

Ollivier said it was this response that sets the Brazzaville Foundation initiative apart from other peace processes put forth by influential players such as Turkey, France and China since the conflict began in February 2022.

“Both parties have said yes,” Ollivier said. “All of the [previous] suggestions or proposals have received no response from the two parties. None of them were invited to talk about it in the two capitals.”

“It’s a very encouraging thing,” he added, “that today, it’s unique, it’s the first time that Russia and Ukraine are welcoming a peace trip of six African heads of states.”

The Brazzaville Foundation, established in 2014, gets its name from the DRC capital in which the landmark Brazzaville Protocol was established nearly 35 years ago. Ollivier played a crucial part in the discussions to resolve the decades-long South African Border War.

While internal conflicts have continued to plague Africa, these woes have been compounded over the past year by the distant war between Russia and Ukraine. Just a month and a half into that conflict, Ollivier penned an op-ed published by Newsweek in which he outlined why Africa was hesitant to choose sides.

And thus, behind-the-scenes discussions to promote a multinational peace plan began.

Today, Ollivier acknowledges that it is no longer feasible for him to work solely behind closed doors in the information era and he says he now wants to put Africa at the forefront of diplomatic efforts to resolve a conflict with devastating global ramifications.

“Africa has not been directly concerned in its territory by the war between Russia and Ukraine,” Ollivier said. “But there is a very big threat.”

This threat most readily looms in the disruption of steady grain exports as a result of both conflict and sanctions that could ultimately lead to widespread famine across the continent. At the same time, Ollivier said African countries are also facing “a lot of pressure, from either the Russians or Americans, sometimes both, to pick sides.”

“The best way for Africa to get out of that is to play the role they are trying to play,” Ollivier said.

Key to this initiative is the geographic and geopolitical coverage of the six African leaders involved. The six presidents hail from Africa’s north, south, east and west and are diverse in their views of the conflict.

South Africa’s Ramaphosa and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni are widely seen as having stances more closely aligned with Russia, while Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has expressed a pro-Ukrainian position and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi have remained largely neutral. Senegalese President Macky Sall has already engaged in Russia-Ukraine diplomacy as the former chair of the African Union.

“We have a very nice combination, and this combination has been accepted by both parties,” Ollivier said. “Of course, we consulted them, we discussed with them. Some of these countries were suggested by the parties. But we ended up with a quite solid grouping geographically, politically and representing extremely respected leaders.”

Together, with the Brazzaville Foundation, Ollivier said the group brings credibility and experience to be taken seriously at the negotiating table. Facing the formidable challenge of bridging the gap between Moscow and Kyiv, he said progress can be achieved “by starting a dialogue on subjects that interest the two countries and will not directly impact, at the beginning, the military situation on the ground.”

Ollivier identified two such subjects. The first is a potential swap of thousands of Russians and Ukrainian soldiers being held as prisoners of war, and the second is a lasting extension of the fragile deal brokered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan and the United Nations. It currently allows Ukraine to continue exporting grain in the midst of the war, something Ollivier argued could be achieved by further easing sanctions to facilitate the export of Russian fertilizers currently being held up in ports.

“At the end of the day,” Ollivier said, “we are hoping to be able to create dialogues where people are sitting together directly, not through Mr. ErdoÄŸan or the United Nations.”

“Let’s talk about fertilizer. Let’s talk about prisoner exchange. Let’s talk about grains,” he added. “And there will be a stack of dialogues, and from this dialogue, we believe that that can lead to other issues and at least to open the prospect for settlement.”

South, Africa, President, Cyril, Ramaphosa, press, conference
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks during a press conference with the prime minister of Singapore (unpictured) on May 16, 2023, in Cape Town, South Africa. Ramaphosa said he had spoken with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who agreed to host a peace initiative led by him and five other African presidents.
Presidency of the Republic of South Africa

Beyond finding common ground between Russia and Ukraine, there are other geopolitical factors at play as well.

While the Brazzaville Foundation’s efforts are independent, Ollivier said extensive consultations have been held among other top players, including the African Union, China, the United Kingdom, the United States and others. So far, he said, a number of these governments have expressed interest in the initiative, and none have discouraged it.

The once-quiet process is now gaining traction in public comments as well. Two days after Ramaphosa said he won approval for his delegation in conversations with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced Moscow’s support.

“We are convinced that the African countries, which have recently shown an interest in helping settle this situation, are well aware of its geopolitical context,” Lavrov said during a press conference Thursday alongside his counterpart from Uganda.

“We stand ready to work with our African friends and promote approaches based on the U.N. Charter’s fundamental principles,” Lavrov said, “primarily on the principle of sovereign equality of states and indivisible security, which must take root in the international arena.”

Ollivier is set to leave for Moscow and Kyiv on Saturday in order to advance the plans for the six African leaders’ travel there, something he said would take place before the Russia-Africa Summit set to be held July 26-29.

For the man whose life work has won several national honors and put him at the center of the 2014 documentary Plot for Peace, the project is also personal.

“I have a reputation. I enjoy the trust of the parties,” Ollivier said. “What am I going to do? I’m 78 now. I am going to sit on my couch and watch TV, a series on Netflix?”

“I will feel extremely guilty if I’m not doing my best to help or assist in a peaceful solution,” he said, “especially in a conflict which is damaging the world like this conflict that is taking place.”

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry for comment.

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