By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa discussed Ukraine conflict in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
Ramaphosa confirmed the conversation in a post on the social media platform X on Tuesday, saying “Yesterday, I had the pleasure to once again interact with Russian President Vladimir Putin over a telephone call. We both affirmed the strong bilateral relations between our respective countries.”
According to Ramaphosa, the two leaders expressed their commitment to seeking a peaceful resolution to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. “South Africa will continue engaging all interested and affected parties, including the government of Ukraine on finding a path to peace,” he said.
The phone call came just days ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s scheduled visit to South Africa on Thursday.
Presidency confirmed that the Russia-Ukraine conflict will be among the issues discussed during Zelensky’s visit.
Ramaphosa and Zelensky are also expected to discuss what role, if any, there could be for South Africa to play in international negotiations for the return of the many Ukrainian children — estimated by Ukraine at about 20,000 — whom Russia abducted from occupied Ukrainian territory. Ukraine believes Russia did this to extinguish the Ukrainian identity of the children.
At a conference in Canada last year, which was part of Zelensky’s peace formula discussions, SA agreed to work with Qatar and the Vatican on the return of the children.
The meeting between Ramaphosa and Zelensky will also discuss bilateral issues and the improvement of relations between the two countries.
Moscow and Kyiv have held no bilateral talks since the immediate aftermath of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its neighbour. Ukraine remains wary of any ceasefire agreement with Russia, given how Moscow has violated the truce multiple times over the 2014-2022 war in eastern Ukraine.