Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has urged countries still “playing the game of neutrality” in the Russia-Ukraine conflict to “reconsider” their stance.
Speaking to African journalists in a virtual briefing on Thursday, Kuleba said countries that abstained from a vote at the UN General Assembly late on Wednesday weren’t neutral, but were turning “a blind eye from how Russia is trying to destroy the world”.
SA was one of 35 countries that abstained from voting on a European-sponsored resolution condemning Russia's attempted annexation of four Ukrainian territories last month. The resolution was passed with a record 143 votes in favour.
The matter was moved to the general assembly after Russia exercised its veto on the matter in the Security Council.
“Do not try to use the argument ‘we cannot do this for you because we have to remain neutral’,” he added. “This is what looks ridiculous under the current circumstances. I understand the countries who played this game in the first month of the war. They were under the illusion it’s possible to be in the middle, to make Russia stop.”
Mathu Joyini, SA’s ambassador to the UN, said that while recognising that the annexation of another state’s territory is in violation of the UN Charter and international law, “some elements of the resolution” did not address the achievement of a “constructive outcome conducive to the creation of sustainable peace in Ukraine”.
“In the context of the heightened tensions in recent days, all efforts should be geared towards a ceasefire and a political solution,” Joyini added.
Russia was continuing its attacks since invading Ukraine on February 24 in violation of the UN Charter, and peace talks were therefore impossible, Kuleba said.
African tour cut short
Kuleba travelled with a business delegation to Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Kenya and promised stronger trade ties and a reliable supply of grain once the conflict receded.
“Our relationships must be based on three pillars of mutuality: mutual respect, mutual support and mutual benefits,” he said.
The friendships Ukraine was trying to build on the continent aren’t “supposed to force African countries to make a choice” between Ukraine and Russia, but would be about the joint defence of principles such as territorial integrity, he added.
Kuleba spoke with African journalists via Zoom on Thursday after cutting short his diplomatic tour of the continent — the first by a Ukrainian foreign minister — following a series of Russian missile attacks on his country earlier this week.
Ukrainian Special Representative for Africa and the Middle East, Maksym Subhk, who accompanied Kuleba on his tour of Africa and continued it after Kuleba’s return to his home country. Subhk visited SA on Wednesday before heading to Botswana and Mozambique.
Separately, President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to make an overdue state visit to Saudi Arabia at the weekend to discuss trade ties.
Saudi Arabia voted in favour of the UN resolution, but has recently angered the US by agreeing with Opec+, the main oil producers’ group that includes Russia, to reduce oil supplies by 2-million barrels a day from November. The decision is likely to lead to an increase in prices that would benefit Russia.
“The discussions would focus on export market opportunities for SA produce and on SA as an investment destination as well as an entry point into Southern Africa and beyond within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” the presidency said in a statement.
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