MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a phone call with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

The two leaders discussed "issues related to the well-known African initiative to find a solution to the Ukrainian conflict," it added.

According to the statement, Putin will receive a delegation of several African heads of state in the near future.

"Preparations for the second Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg at the end of July and the upcoming BRICS summit in Johannesburg in August were also discussed," the Kremlin said.

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)