South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has called for peace in Ukraine during his speech on Friday at the Russia – Africa summit in St Petersburg.
Ramaphosa also expressed his concern with the issue of food security in Africa following Russia’s pulling out of the grain deal.
“Even in this case with the conflict in the Ukraine we still advocate for peace and in a way we feel we have a right to call for peace because the ongoing conflict as you heard over the course of the day also negatively affects us, as African countries. Apart from wanting to support a peace process all over the world, this conflict is now directly affecting us as well. As we told you the last time as far as food security is concerned the price of our fertilisers have gone up”, said South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa.
Only 17 African heads of state were present at the summit, a significant drop when compared to 43 at the first Russia-Africa summit held in 2019.
Ramaphosa was all smiles when he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since the publicising of an affidavit laying out his fears of Russia declaring war if South Africa arrested him.
Ramaphosa was all smiles when he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since the publicising of an affidavit laying out his fears of Russia declaring war if South Africa arrested him.
Ramaphosa and Putin shook hands at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St Petersburg on Saturday.
They were meeting to “discuss South Africa and Russia’s bilateral relationship which is built on strategic partnerships in several areas including energy, industry and agriculture”, according to the Presidency on its social media account.
In photos supplied by the GCIS, the two leaders appeared to be a jovial mood as they posed for the cameras. They smiled and appeared to laugh while talking.
In a publicised affidavit to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Ramaphosa said his fear of war with Russia was the reason he did not want to execute the March-issued International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Putin.
The government claimed a diplomatic victory last week when it announced that Putin would not physically attend the BRICS summit planned for next month, where domestic and international laws would have forced the government to arrest the Russian leader.
Ramaphosa told both the ICC and the High Court that he feared that Russia would declare war on South Africa if it were to arrest Putin. He said the government took threats by Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev seriously.
His Excellency President @CyrilRamaphosa meeting His Excellency President Vladimir Putin at Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg in the Russian Federation
to discuss South Africa and Russia’s bilateral relationship which is built on strategic partnerships in several areas… pic.twitter.com/Oe1KLmNQFK— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) July 29, 2023
Ramaphosa and other African heads of state this week attended the second Russia–Africa Summit.
Ramaphosa and Putin shook hands at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St Petersburg on Saturday.
They were meeting to “discuss South Africa and Russia’s bilateral relationship which is built on strategic partnerships in several areas including energy, industry and agriculture”, according to the Presidency on its social media account.
In photos supplied by the GCIS, the two leaders appeared to be a jovial mood as they posed for the cameras. They smiled and appeared to laugh while talking.
In a publicised affidavit to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Ramaphosa said his fear of war with Russia was the reason he did not want to execute the March-issued International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Putin.
The government claimed a diplomatic victory last week when it announced that Putin would not physically attend the BRICS summit planned for next month, where domestic and international laws would have forced the government to arrest the Russian leader.
Ramaphosa told both the ICC and the High Court that he feared that Russia would declare war on South Africa if it were to arrest Putin. He said the government took threats by Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev seriously.
Ramaphosa and other African heads of state this week attended the second Russia–Africa Summit.
