Zelensky Appeals to South Africa to "Help End the War" Amid Allegations of Russian Arms Supply

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the pro-Russian President of South Africa to help end the war.

According to Reuters on the 13th (local time), President Zelensky requested assistance in implementing Ukraine's peace plan to end the war with Russia during a phone call with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The peace plan proposed by Ukraine includes provisions such as Russia withdrawing from the Ukrainian territories it currently occupies.

In a video speech that day, President Zelensky said, "Anyone who helps the aggressor with weapons is an accomplice."

The reason President Zelensky mentioned South Africa is due to allegations that South Africa provided weapons to Russia for the war in Ukraine.

On the 11th, Ruben Brigety, the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, claimed that a Russian cargo ship docked in Cape Town, South Africa, in December last year, left carrying ammunition.

According to the Russian presidential office, President Cyril Ramaphosa held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the same day and agreed to deepen relations.

However, Sydney Mufamadi, South Africa’s Presidential Special Advisor on National Security, who recently visited the United States, stated that South Africa is "actively maintaining neutrality regarding the conflict" in relation to the war in Ukraine.

Nevertheless, since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, South Africa has abstained from all United Nations resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, opposing the annexation of occupied territories, and calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops. This is analyzed to be due to the traditional friendly relationship between Russia and South Africa. Since the former Soviet Union supported South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement in the past, the African National Congress (ANC), which came to power through that support, is inevitably pro-Russian.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.