President Cyril Ramaphosa says discussions with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on the war between Russia and Ukraine had been scheduled well in advance and should not be interpreted as a diplomatic response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s presence in the country.
The conversation between Ramaphosa and Trump follows similar talks SA’s leader held with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week, as Pretoria continues to navigate a careful diplomatic balance amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“The call between Trump was long in the making. I last spoke to him in January … it was a very cordial discussion and of course as President Zelensky is paying a visit here the war in Ukraine came up,” Ramaphosa told reporters on Thursday.
The discussion between Ramaphosa and Trump also focused on US and SA relations, with both agreeing on a “need to foster good relations between our two countries”, Ramaphosa’s office wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“We both agreed that the war should be brought to an end as soon as possible to stop further unnecessary deaths. We both agreed to meet soon to address various matters regarding US-SA relations.”
It was the first telephonic call between the two heads of state since Trump’s inauguration in January and comes amid tension between the two countries over differences about SA’s foreign and domestic policy.
The call coincided with Zelensky’s working visit on Thursday, with Ramaphosa aiming to strengthen bilateral ties and rally support for Kyiv’s push to end Russia’s invasion.
The visit comes as Zelensky faces mounting pressure from Trump, who warned last week that American backing could waver without tangible progress towards a peace agreement.
Zelensky arrived in SA after the latest bombardments of Ukraine’s major cities on Wednesday evening, cutting his working visit short.
Ramaphosa said during Zelensky’s visit that peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow should start without preconditions such as ceding territory. Kyiv has consistently maintained it will not cede Crimea, the southern peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, a move widely condemned as illegal under international law.
Those issues “should be talked about at the negotiating table”, Ramaphosa said, adding that he had “shared our own SA experience with [Zelensky], and that the negotiations that brought an end to the nightmare of apartheid were held on a no-precondition basis”.
“We believe that if more pressure is applied to Russia, we’ll be able to make our positions closer,” Zelensky said.
“If Russia says it is ready to cease fire, it must stop massive strikes against Ukraine. It is Ukrainians who are running out of patience, because it is us who are under attack, and no-one else.”
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