JOHANNESBURG: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday he had spoken to President Donald Trump about the conflict in Ukraine and they planned to meet “soon”.
Ramaphosa made the statement as he hosted Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a working visit to South Africa which was cut short after deadly Russian attacks on Kyiv overnight. “I spoke to President Donald Trump to discuss the peace process in Ukraine,” Ramaphosa said on social media.
The leaders had “agreed that the war should be brought to an end as soon as possible to stop further unnecessary deaths,” he said. “We both agreed to meet soon to address various matters regarding US-South Africa relations.”
Ties between Pretoria and Washington took a nosedive after Trump came to power this year. He has criticised various South African domestic and international policies, including Pretoria’s case at the International Court of Justice on Israel’s war in Gaza.
The tensions culminated in the expulsion of Pretoria’s ambassador last month. Trump has also cut financial aid over what he alleged was an anti-white land policy and offered refugee settlement to the white Afrikaner minority that he has claimed is being persecuted. In his social media post, Ramaphosa said he and Trump had agreed on “the need to foster good relations between our two countries.”
