South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday criticized NATO for the war in Ukraine and said he would reject demands to condemn Russia.
“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,” Ramaphosa said during a question and answer session in parliament.
However, he added that South Africa “cannot condone the use of force and violation of international law,” referring to Russia’s ongoing full-scale military operation in Ukraine.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa 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 https://t.co/y1plRKUHRG pic.twitter.com/7tr3pvDS3M
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 17, 2022
On March 11, Ramaphosa said that the country has been asked to mediate in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He did not reveal who asked him to intervene.
“There are those who are insisting that we should take a very adversarial stance against Russia. The approach we are going to take [instead] is … insisting that there should be dialogue,” the South African president said. “Screaming and shouting is not going to bring an end to this conflict.”
South Africa is often suspected to be allied with Russia since Ramaphosa’s African National Congress party has strong ties to the former Soviet Union, which supported the anti-apartheid movement during the Cold War.
Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
During a call between the two nations, Xi told Putin that it is important to “abandon the Cold War mentality, attach importance to and respect the reasonable security concerns of all countries, and form a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through negotiations.”
The country has remained neutral in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, claiming that it respects “all countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“China supports Russia in resolving the issue through negotiation with Ukraine,” according to a readout of the call.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, over 400 schools, 110 hospitals, and 1,000 residential blocks across Ukraine have been destroyed, according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.
“We will win. It’s a question only of the price which the Ukrainian people will pay,” Reznikov said. “The Russians can be stopped, victory can be gained, but we need assistance.”
