South Africa summons US ambassador over Russia arms allegations

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) South Africa’s foreign ministry summoned the US ambassador to a meeting on Friday over allegations he made a day earlier that the country had supplied arms and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

Amid the diplomatic fallout over the US allegations, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor will also meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, South Africa’s Department of International Relations and cooperation (actually the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), said in a statement posted by spokesman Clayson Monyela on Twitter.

US Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety told a press conference on Thursday that South Africa had loaded arms and ammunition onto a sanctioned Russian vessel at the Simons Town naval base near the Cape Town last December. The weapons were then transported to Russia, Brigety said.

We (the United States) are convinced that weapons were loaded into this ship and I would bet my life on the accuracy of this assertion, Brigety said. He called South Africa’s arming of Russia fundamentally unacceptable.

Following Brigety’s comments, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed that an investigation was underway into the visit of the Russian freighter Lady R in December. That investigation had begun before Brigety went public with his accusation and would use whatever evidence U.S. intelligence officials had about the alleged weapons, Ramaphosa said.

But his office said in a statement that there was currently no evidence that any weapons were loaded onto the ship in South Africa. The Foreign Office added in a statement on Friday that there was no record of a state-approved arms sale to Russia related to the time period/incident in question.

The Associated Press has independently verified that the Lady R made it to the South African naval base from Dec. 6-8, as Brigety claimed. A review of records by the AP also showed the Lady R is linked to a company that was sanctioned by the United States for transporting weapons for the Russian government and aiding its war effort.

The issue threatens to strain relations between the United States and one of its key African partners. Monyela said South Africa would launch a case against Brigety over her allegations, a diplomatic term that refers to a formal complaint. Monyela also said in her Twitter post that South Africa appreciates the relationship we have with the United States of America. They are cordial, strong and mutually beneficial.

Ramaphosas’ office slammed Brigety on Thursday for going public with the allegations.

South Africa’s stance on war on Ukraine has troubled the United States and other Western nations since Africa’s most developed nation abstained in a vote last year of the United Nations condemning the invasion of Russia. South Africa has said it will take a neutral stance on the war and instead call for a diplomatic solution and an end to the fighting.

Critics said South Africa had effectively sided with Russia after hosting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for talks in January and allowing Russian and Chinese warships to use its waters for joint naval exercises off its east coast in February. The drills coincided with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The South African government has also indicated that it would not be prepared to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he traveled, as planned, to a meeting of leaders of the BRICS economic bloc in August despite the fact that the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him.

South Africa is a signatory to the international court and is obliged to arrest Putin if he sets foot on its territory.

South Africa has a historic relationship with Russia due to the former Soviet Union’s support of the ruling African National Congress when it was a liberation movement fighting to end the segregation regime in South Africa. apartheid which oppressed the country’s black majority.

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