South Africa welcomes Russian foreign minister despite criticism

[ad_1]

Johannesburg, South Africa

South Africa has defended its warm relations and joint military exercises with Russia by hosting Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on his first visit since the invasion of Ukraine.

Lavrov said he appreciated South Africa’s neutral stance since the war began a year ago and blamed Ukraine and the West for the continued conflict.

It is well known that we supported the proposal of the Ukrainian side to negotiate at the beginning of the special military operation, it is well known that our American and British colleagues and some of our European colleagues told Ukraine that it was too early to treat, he said.

Russia has repeatedly rejected Ukrainian and Western demands to withdraw completely from Ukraine as a condition of any negotiations.

Lavrov also denied that Moscow was targeting civilians, despite numerous attacks on residential buildings in Ukraine that experts say likely add up to war crimes.

South African Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor reiterated that Pretoria wanted to see a diplomatic solution through dialogue.

As South Africa, we sincerely hope that the conflict in Ukraine will soon be resolved peacefully through diplomacy and negotiation, she said.

However, she defended South Africa’s right to maintain bilateral relations with countries of its choice and not be dictated to by the West.

South Africa is hosting the Russian and Chinese navies for February drills off Durban.

Pandor noted that all countries conduct military exercises with friends.

Defense Ministry spokesman Cornelius Monama said on Monday that the drills would strengthen the strong bonds between the countries.

Contrary to claims by our critics, South Africa is not abandoning its neutral stance on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, he said.

The main opposition, the Democratic Alliance, has called for the drills to be cancelled, and Ukraine’s ambassador to South Africa, Liubov Abravitova, recently told VOA that she doesn’t understand why South Africa is leading exercises with, in quotation marks, the army of rapists and murderers.

Steven Gruzd, a Russian expert at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said Lavrov had clearly found some sympathy from Pandor and that he expects to see greater cooperation between the two BRICS allies in the future. ‘coming.

I think it’s interesting to read the body language between ministers Lavrov and Pandor, the foreign ministers of Russia and South Africa, I think the press conference was quite warm and there’s a real convergence of views between countries, he said.

But Gruzd said South Africa holding naval exercises with Russia could affect its standing on the international stage.

He added that it will be interesting to see the chemistry between Pandor and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who arrives in South Africa on Tuesday evening for a visit.

Despite pressure from the United States, Pretoria refused to join Washington in condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

South Africa has also invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit later this year for the BRICS summit of emerging economies, although it is not yet clear whether he will attend.

The BRICS group includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

[ad_2]