President John Dramani Mahama has backed calls for a 30-day ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war.

President Mahama was of the conviction that if a truce was reached, lasting peace would return to the region.

In an interaction with the Ambassador of Italy, Ms Laura Ranalli, when he received her letter of credence at the Presiden­cy in Accra yesterday, President Mahama said restoration of peace to that part of the world must be of concern to all citizens around the globe.

President John Mahama with Ms Laura Ranalli, Italian Ambassador

“We are happy to note the call for a 30-day ceasefire by President Zelensky.

“We hope that that will open the way for some kind of dia­logue to continue to start to see if the issue of Russia and Ukraine can be resolved within that,” he said.

President Mahama decried the devastating impact of the war which has claimed many lives and displaced thousands in the process.

“A lot of young people have died, and it’s time for the war to stop, and it can only stop if there’s a ceasefire and some kind of dialogue begins, and so that’s our position when it comes to that,” President Mahama stated.

The 30-day ceasefire, proposed by the US, is intended to return the warring factions to the negoti­ation table for lasting peace to that region.

Tuesday’s talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, were the first between the US and Ukraine since the presi­dents of the two countries met in the White House on February 28.

A joint statement after the meeting said both delegations agreed to name their teams and immediately begin negotiations toward an enduring peace with the hope that Russia would accept the proposal.

“We’ll take this offer now to the Russians and we hope they’ll say yes to peace. The ball is now in their court,” US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, told a press conference in Jeddah on Tuesday.

President Mahama, meanwhile, also received credentials from four other envoys as Ghana continue to deepen diplomatic relations with other countries.

They are Ambassadors Julio Enrique Pujol Torres, Republic of Cuba, Dr Abdulla Muraid Sulaiman Mohammed Al Man­doos, United Arab Emirates, Mrs Musu Jatu Ruhle, Liberia and Ali Ghomshi, Iran.