By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky state visit to South Africa has been moved to the 24th of April 2025, the Presidency confirmed.
Earlier this month, presidency confirmed that Zelensky would visit South Africa on 10 April.
Fullview learnt that Zelensky state visit was moved due to his busy schedule.
Ukraine has long-awaited an invitation for a state visit from SA.
On 20 January, Ukrainian officials said that Pretoria had invited Zelensky to visit South Africa. However, presidency at the time, said that although discussions had been held about a potential visit by Zelensky to SA, no formal invitation had yet been issued.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zelensky later met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland to discuss details of his potential visit to SA.
The announcement of a date for Zelensky’s state visit follows the explosive meeting between the Ukrainian leader and US President Donald Trump at the White House. Zelensky left the White House early following the confrontation with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, without signing the much-awaited deal between the US and Ukraine over the joint development of natural resources.
South Africa and Ukraine have had a complicated relationship since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. But Ramaphosa’s visits to Ukraine and Russia in 2023 at the head of an Africa peace mission, and Pretoria’s participation in Zelensky’s peace formula talks since July 2023, have eased relations somewhat.
Meanwhile Zelensky has visited troops at a front-line position near the embattled city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
In videos shared on social media on Saturday, Zelensky is seen awarding medals to soldiers and holding a briefing at a command post.
Zelenskyy later travelled to the Kharkiv region for another troop visit and a meeting with the military leadership.
Pokrovsk has been a target of Russian attacks since the middle of 2024. While some Russian forces have advanced to positions south-west of the city, they have recently failed to make further territorial gains.
The complete capture of Donetsk remains one of Russia’s primary military objectives in its full-scale invasion, now in its fourth year.