African Leaders' Diplomatic Efforts Between Russia and Ukraine

A group of African leaders, including presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South Africa, and Zambia, visited Ukraine on Friday to try to help end the nearly 16-month-old war. They then traveled to St. Petersburg to meet with Putin, who declared that the first Russian tactical nuclear weapons have been deployed to Belarus as a deterrent against Western efforts to defeat Russia in Ukraine. The African leaders' mission comes as Ukraine launches a counteroffensive to dislodge the Kremlin's forces from occupied areas, using Western-supplied advanced weapons in attacks in several sections of more than the 1,000-kilometer front line.