Ukraine wants SA to use its upcoming G20 presidency to pressure Russia to end its nearly three-year war, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser, Daria Herasymchuk said.
SA will assume its year-long presidency of the G20 from December 1. The organisation includes the world’s wealthiest nations including China, France, Germany, India, the UK and the US. SA was the only African member until the addition of the AU in 2023.
The US, UK and EU have bankrolled Kyiv and placed punitive sanctions on Moscow since the outbreak of the conflict in February 2022. But SA has remained cautious in the matter, choosing to remain nonaligned and has sought to find solutions to end the conflict through leading a peace mission of African states.
During a working visit to SA in October, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha reaffirmed that Kyiv was willing to engage in peace negotiations with Russia, which was previously off the table.
“We want to involve the countries of G20 in the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, including SA obviously to join this coalition. This coalition is very important and it’s a very powerful community of lawyers fighting for the rights of Ukrainian children and obviously of children in general, and for providing some political pressure on Russia, on [Vladimir] Putin directly,” Herasymchuk told Business Day.
“So we would like the G20 countries to be more actively involved in this work. And obviously we understand that SA is a leader in the region and we hope for your active involvement. So obviously your country will be planning the G20 agenda and we hope that you will be a part of the world's efforts to build a just peace.”
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023, accusing him of responsibility for the war crime of illegal deportation of children from Ukraine. The warrant of arrest prevented him from attending the 2023 Brics summit in Johannesburg, which would have compelled SA to arrest him because SA is a signatory to the Rome Statute.
Zelensky is betting on the election victory of Donald Trump in the US to speed up the process to end the war. On the campaign trail prior to the US elections on November 5, Trump consistently said he sought an end to the war, which has been a drain on US finances in the form of military aid to Ukraine since 2022.
“I can’t say what exactly I think or how Trump’s presidency will affect the return of Ukrainian children, but I don’t lose hope... We do not lose hope that we will receive even stronger support from the US than it was in previous year … and I would also like to hope that M. Trump can directly agree with Putin on the return of Ukrainian children. I want to hope that he has the strength to do so,” Herasymchuk said.
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