Pretoria (AFP) – President Cyril Ramaphosa praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his first visit to South Africa on Thursday for agreeing to an unconditional ceasefire in the war with Russia so that peace talks could begin. Ramaphosa threw South Africa’s weight behind the push for an end to the more than three-year war, holding talks with Zelensky hours after agreeing in a call with US President Donald Trump that the conflict should be ended urgently.
“It is a good signal from President Zelensky that Ukraine is agreeable to an unconditional ceasefire so that discussions and negotiations can then ensue,” Ramaphosa told reporters after talks with the Ukrainian leader. “It is a confidence-building measure that should be a key ingredient in a negotiation process.”
Even while welcoming Zelensky to South Africa, Ramaphosa has maintained warm ties with Russia, a historical ally of the post-apartheid government for its support in the struggle against white minority rule. He said he had spoken to Putin earlier in the week and “we both committed to work together towards a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict”.
Earlier on Thursday, he spoke with Trump and they agreed “that the war should be brought to an end as soon as possible to stop further unnecessary deaths”, the South African president said. They would “meet soon to address various matters regarding US-South Africa relations,” he said, referring to a nosedive in bilateral ties after Trump came to power this year. US attacks on various South African domestic and international policies culminated in the cutting of aid and expulsion of Pretoria’s ambassador last month.
Ramaphosa said his country was ready to play a role in the “inclusive multilateral efforts” to reach peace in Ukraine. “And we call upon all parties, both Russia and Ukraine, to ensure that there is a comprehensive ceasefire, an unconditional ceasefire, so that discussions and negotiations can start between the two countries.”
– United for peace –
Zelensky said he believed South Africa’s backing “will help stop Russia and force Putin to support…a complete unconditional ceasefire,” according to translated remarks released by the South African government. Global efforts need to be as “united as possible” to pressure Russia, he said. The G20 group of leading economies, which is this year under South Africa’s presidency and convenes a summit in November, also has a role in the “defence of life”, Zelensky said. “And we are very much counting on it.”
He had handed Ramaphosa a list of 400 Ukrainian children being held in Russia “against their will” in the hopes South Africa could help to secure their return, he added. Ukraine also wanted to build ties with South Africa, including in energy security and industries such as fertiliser production, he said.
Hours after arriving in South Africa early Thursday, the Ukrainian leader said he would cut short his trip to return to Kyiv after the capital was hit at dawn by the deadliest strike in months, with a dozen people killed. Ramaphosa’s invitation to Zelensky to visit was seen as a shift in Pretoria’s non-aligned stance on the war, which began in 2022. In February for the first time, Pretoria joined a UN General Assembly resolution criticising Russia for “the full-scale invasion of Ukraine”.
South Africa believes it can work with both sides and facilitate an inclusive peace process, drawing on its own relatively smooth transition out of apartheid in 1994 after decades of armed struggle. “The negotiations that brought an end to the nightmare of apartheid were held on a no-precondition basis,” Ramaphosa said, urging Moscow and Kyiv to follow that example.
The South African leader said Zelensky had taken “significant strides” in expanding Ukraine’s relations with the African continent. Moscow’s own influence in Africa has been growing, including militarily, and it has been trying to build new partnerships after being isolated by the West for its offensive against Ukraine.
© 2024 AFP
