South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts have agreed to separate meetings with a delegation of African heads of state to discuss a possible plan to end the war in Ukraine.

Mr Ramaphosa spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by phone over the weekend and they agreed to host “an African leaders’ peace mission” in Moscow and Kyiv respectively, a statement from the South African leader’s office said.

The leaders of Zambia, Senegal, Congo, Uganda and Egypt plan to join Mr Ramaphosa on the mission, the president said.

He added that Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky gave him the go-ahead to “commence the preparations”.

No details were provided on the possible parameters of the talks. Mr Zelensky has previously said he would not consider a peace deal to end the 15-month war until Russian forces withdraw from Ukrainian territory.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres was briefed on the African delegation’s planned meetings and “welcomed the initiative”, Mr Ramaphosa said.

Meanwhile, a Chinese envoy is preparing to visit Ukraine and Russia as Beijing advocates a peace plan it released in February. Li Hui, a former ambassador to Moscow, also will visit Poland, France and Germany, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

Ukraine has cautiously welcomed China’s proposal while saying it would wait to see what specific actions China takes.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government says it is neutral and wants to mediate in the war, but it has given Moscow political support, and a breakthrough appears unlikely more than 14 months after Russia’s full-scale invasion.