South Africa Calls For Multilateral Approach To Ukraine Settlement - Minister

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2023) South Africa advocates a multilateral system for the peaceful and considered settlement of the Ukraine conflict, Minister in the Presidency of the Republic of South Africa Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said on Wednesday.

"With a conflict between Russia and Ukraine, South Africa's position (is one) of demanding a respect of the multilateral system, non-alignment and advocating for a peaceful and negotiated solution of the conflict," Ntshavheni said during a plenary session of the International Security Meeting in Moscow.

On May 16, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on behalf of African countries, and presented them with a peace initiative from Zambia, Senegal, the Republic of Congo, Uganda, Egypt and South Africa.

Ramaphosa said that both presidents agreed to receive a mission of leaders of African nations with their peace initiatives on the conflict.

Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then, Russian and Ukrainian delegations have held several rounds of peace talks, but the negotiations eventually reached an impasse. In October 2022, Zelenskyy signed a decree stating that Kiev could not hold peace talks as long as Putin was president of Russia. In November, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Kiev was committed to escalation, not peace talks.