Defence minister Thandi Modise told defence chiefs in Moscow on Tuesday that SA would always be ready to “engage in the resolution of conflict” and believed in choosing “mediation and peace”.
Modise has travelled to attend the three-day Moscow Conference on International Security, hosted by the Russian government, amid criticism from the local Ukrainian Association of SA and the DA, whose spokesperson on defence and MP, Kobus Marais, called it “poor judgment” due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine six months ago.
Modise, who also met Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu on the conference sidelines, said in her speech that SA’s stance on resolving conflict “is not always a popular stance, because I think sometimes it is easier to make war than to face ... your enemy if your enemy stares [you] in the face, and deal with the root causes of conflict”.
Echoing calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for peace, she added, “especially where we know the real victims will be children and women”.
She told the 35 countries reported to be in attendance that “we need to be able to be brave enough to face up and discuss [and] confront the issues and get them resolved”.
Modise’s remarks came as a number of ships loaded with grain have successfully sailed from Black Sea ports in Ukraine after a deal was brokered between Russia and Ukraine in July.
The deal was regarded by SA and AU officials, among others, as a first step towards finding a negotiated settlement in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Associated Press has reported there has been a parallel deal to get Russian wheat to the world, after the spike in food and energy prices, which has pushed populations in many Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries to starvation.
Modise’s remarks also come amid reports that Russia is short of recruits — something its defence ministry denies — and is offering amnesty to prisoners if they agree to join its operations in Ukraine. This is similar to efforts made by Zelensky in Ukraine earlier in the war.
But it is not immediately clear whether Modise’s pleas for peace would be heeded.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in his opening speech to the conference said Russia, with “allies, partners and fellow thinkers” would “improve the existing mechanisms of international security and create new ones, as well as consistently strengthen the national armed forces and other security structures by providing them with advanced weapons and military equipment”.
He said Russia would “secure its national interests” and protect its allies “and take other steps towards building a more democratic world where the rights of all peoples and cultural and civilisational diversity are guaranteed”.
He accused the West, the US, in particular, for the continuing conflict in Ukraine, saying it was attempting to expand Nato in Europe and was trying to do the same in the Asia-Pacific region by means of “military-political unions” such as Aukus, a trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK and the US announced in September 2021.
On the other side, Zelensky earlier in August criticised SA’s abstention from voting on UN resolutions condemning Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, and its non-aligned stance.
The Moscow conference, which ends on Wednesday, is also taking place ahead of a visit by UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres to Ukraine, where he is expected to meet Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Zelensky’s invitation.
Guterres has in previous years addressed the Moscow conference, but it was not immediately clear whether he was a speaker this year.
The conference website shows that 88 countries were invited to attend, including 24 African countries.
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