A Side Skirmish in Russia-Ukraine War Flares up in South Africa
It’s thousands of miles from the front lines, but South Africa suddenly finds itself in the thick of a diplomatic dust-up over the war in Ukraine, and over whether the man who started the war should be welcomed here later this year.
Pretoria‘s busy weekend featured President Cyril Ramaphosa speaking by phone with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, addressing a slew of murky allegations that South Africa had secretly sold weapons to Moscow. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken put in a call to South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, seeking to clear the air on an incident that has strained relations between the two capitals.
The diplomatic dancing began Thursday after U.S. Ambassador to Pretoria Reuben Brigety went public with U.S. suspicions that a Russian ship, the Lady R., had picked up badly needed ammunition, guns and other equipment when it docked near Cape Town in December.
“Weapons of war were loaded onto that vessel, and I will bet my life on that assertion,” Mr. Brigety told reporters.
The ambassador later met with Mrs. Pandor who claimed that he “apologized unreservedly,” but in a tweet, Mr. Brigety said he had merely “corrected any misimpressions left by my public remarks.” There remained, he added, a “strong partnership between our two countries.” (Read more from “A Side Skirmish in Russia-Ukraine War Flares up in South Africa” HERE)
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