President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the conflict in Ukraine must end.
In St. Petersburg on Saturday as part of a peace mission with six other African nations, Mr. Ramaphosa met with Mr. Putin and made the comments.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky informed the group that he would not engage in negotiations with Russia as long as it was occupying Ukrainian territory.
While launching the invasion last year, Mr. Putin cited Ukraine's rejection of negotiations.
At the St. Petersburg meeting, Mr. Ramaphosa also demanded the return of all prisoners of war and said that any Russian-removed children should be brought back to their families.
He advised Mr. Putin to use diplomacy to end the conflict after warning of its effects on Africa.
"The war can't go on indefinitely. At some point, every war must be resolved and put to an end, according to him. And we are here to convey the very clear message that we want this war to end. ".
The war has severely restricted the export of fertilizer from Russia and grain from Ukraine, which has primarily impacted African countries and exacerbated global food insecurity.
However, Mr. Putin attributed the grain crisis to the West rather than the conflict in Ukraine, claiming that only 3% of the grain exports allowed under a UN-sponsored agreement to ensure its safe passage through the Black Sea had gone to the world's poorest nations.
He also commended Africa for taking a balanced stance on the conflict.
A meeting with Ukrainian leaders took place before the delegation from South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Congo-Brazzaville, Comoros, Zambia, and Uganda arrived in Russia.
The war in Europe is affecting between 1 and 3 billion people in Africa, Mr. Ramaphosa warned during a visit to Kyiv on Friday.
After the leaders touched down, air raid sirens sounded throughout Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, which the country's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, claimed proved that Vladimir Putin desired "more war.".
Mr. Zelensky informed the delegation that securing the release of political prisoners held by Russia would be "an important result of your mission" during their meeting.