As global condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grows, President Cyril Ramaphosa adopted a more muted tone by calling on the UN Security Council to become more involved in solving the crisis.
This as world leaders, including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, imposed the “largest sanctions ever” against Russia. Ghana and Kenya have also added their voices in condemning the war.
Speaking from Pretoria on Friday, Ramaphosa urged the global security body to resolve the feud.
Making his first public remarks on the rising conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Ramaphosa said, “It behoves on countries of the world, particularly the UN Security Council, they are the ones who should be getting more and more engaged in a mediation process. And one does not see that happening,” he said.
He insisted resolution efforts “should happen to bring these hostilities to an end,” but made no mention of sanctions against Russia.
Various engagements between world leaders and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin have failed to prevent the conflict. Germany’s Olaf Scholtz, France’s Emmanuel Macron, and US President Joe Biden were unable to prevent the invasion. In the wake of Russia’s advance on Thursday, the UK’s Johnson announced the “largest set of sanctions ever” on Russia and pronounced “Putin must fall.”
Ramaphosa’s softer remarks came during a forum geared at reducing the fiscal burden SA’s government carries as a target of litigation. He raised the Ukraine crisis after suggesting mediation as an alternative and a more cost-effective resolution measure in SA.
Ramaphosa said of the Russian Ukraine war, “That conflict is a conflict that should be subject to mediation, to negotiation, to engagement.”
As he made the remarks, Russian troops pressed forward including in Ukraine’s capital during a second day of conflict in the country.
On Thursday, SA’s department of international relations & cooperation (Dirco) issued a statement calling on Russia to “immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine in line with the UN Charter”.
“The Security Council remains the primary body tasked with the mandate to maintain international peace and security and it must exercise its responsibility fully in this regard,” the Dirco statement read.
Meanwhile, leaders of the foundation established by the late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu urged SA to join Ghana and Kenya in condemning the war. “This is no time to sit on the fence. The act of war and violence needs to be condemned in the strongest possible terms,” wrote CEO Piyushi Kotecha and chair Niclas Kjellström-Matseke.
Kotecha and Kjellström-Matseke pressed the AU and the Brics bloc to consider extremely harsh sanctions. SA has neither condemned Russia’s actions nor raised the prospect of sanctions.
On Thursday night, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky reported the country’s troops had acted defensively and “suffered direct blows” from Russian forces.
“According to preliminary data, unfortunately, we have lost 137 of our heroes today, our citizens. Ten of them are officers, 316 are wounded,” he said.
Thursday’s advance by Russian troops, with backing from Belarus and forces in the two separatist regions in the southeast now recognised by Putin as republics escalated after failed diplomatic efforts in the past weeks.
From the early hours of Thursday morning many in Kyiv heeded sirens and sheltered underground. Ukrainians in the capital drew emergency cash from ATMs and bought groceries for stockpiling.
“We need to talk about the end of this invasion. We need to talk about a ceasefire,” Zelensky said in his Thursday night speech.
By Friday morning, UN secretary-general António Guterres was addressing the humanitarian crisis. He said via social media, “With the death toll rising, we are seeing images of fear, anguish and terror in every corner of Ukraine. The protection of civilians must be priority number one. International humanitarian and human rights law must be upheld.”
The night before, he appealed to Putin to halt military attacks. “Give peace a chance. Too many people have already died,” he said. The EU’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said, “These are among the darkest hours of Europe since the Second World War.”
Reflecting on talks with G7 foreign affairs ministers on Thursday about the “co-ordinated actions” they will take in response to the day’s events, Borrell said, “The Russian leadership will face unprecedented isolation.”
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