The decision by SA to abstain from the UN General Assembly vote to denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is unlikely to harm trade relations between it and the world’s largest economy, a US top diplomat said.
The US and more than 140 other nations of the 193-member body voted to rebuke Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, in a historic but largely symbolic vote aimed at isolating Russia politically. SA, which enjoys close economic relations with Russia through the Brics grouping of countries, abstained from the vote.
“Our trade decisions are made based on our trade interests. This is a separate issue; there is no conditionality involved,” US chargé d’affaires to SA Todd Haskell told Business Day on Thursday.
Co-ordinated sanctions against Russia have been initiated by the US, Canada, the UK, Japan and the EU since the invasion of Ukraine began in February, in a bid to slow the Russian economy. The effect of the sanctions was felt immediately, with the rouble falling more than 50% against the dollar and oil prices surging past $110 per barrel.
Any negative shift in trade relations between the US and SA would have a devastating effect on the local economy as it recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, shedding more than 1-million jobs in 2021.
Goods worth $17.8bn were traded between the two countries in 2019. SA also qualifies for preferential trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), which permits SA to export more than 7,000 goods to the US duty-free.
“We are not making our decisions on Agoa based on SA’s vote at the UN,” Haskell says.
“SA and the US goals in Ukraine are the same: we want a negotiated solution that brings peace back to the region ... We do probably disagree on what is the best way to achieve that ... It’s up to every country to use its voice and policy in a way that they think will achieve the goal.”
As delegations from Ukraine and Russia are preparing to begin a second round of talks this week, Ukraine’s ambassador to SA, Liubov Abravitova, says Kyiv has asked through diplomatic channels that SA and other African countries provide humanitarian and financial aid.
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