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 S. Africa’s Ramaphosa: NATO to blame for Russia’s war in Ukraine

Ramaphosa had previously said he had been approached to mediate in the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers the State of the Nation Address to a joint sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces in Cape Town, South Africa, February 10, 2022 [File: Nic Bothma/Reuters]

Published On 18 Mar 202218 Mar 2022

 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has blamed NATO for the war in Ukraine and said he would resist calls to condemn Russia, in comments that cast doubt over whether he would be accepted by Ukraine or the West as a mediator.

Ramaphosa, who was speaking on Thursday in parliament, said: “The war could have been avoided if NATO had heeded the warnings from amongst its own leaders and officials over the years that its eastward expansion would lead to greater, not less, instability in the region.”

But he added that South Africa “cannot condone the use of force and violation of international law” – an apparent reference to Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin has characterised Russia’s actions as a “special operation” to disarm and “denazify” Ukraine and counter what he calls NATO aggression.

 

Kyiv and its Western allies believe Russia launched the unprovoked war to subjugate a neighbour Putin calls an artificial state.

Ramaphosa also revealed that Putin had assured him personally that negotiations were making progress. The South African leader said he had not yet talked with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but that he wanted to.

On Friday, Ramaphosa said South Africa had been asked to mediate in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He did not say who had asked him to intervene.

“There are those who are insisting that we should take a very adversarial stance against Russia,” Ramaphosa added. “The approach we are going to take [instead] is … insisting that there should be dialogue.”

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