President Cyril Ramaphosa says more engagement is required from the United Nations Security Council over the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
A number of countries have imposed sanctions on Russia, after its president, Vladimir Putin, claimed that the action is to demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine.
MAP of countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia:
Delivering the keynote address, at the Intergovernmental National Litigation Forum meeting, in Pretoria, Ramaphosa reiterated that the conflict could be resolved through peaceful engagements.
He says, “It is not necessary for people to go to war and have people getting killed, infrastructure being damaged as it is now and it behoves on countries across the world, particularly the UN Security Council, they are the ones who should be getting more engaged in a mediation process and one does not see that full engagement. It is not necessary for people to die and to be killed when the option of mediation, negotiation and engagement is available.”
President Ramaphosa reiterates that the conflict could be resolved through mediation:
On Thursday, South Africa called on Russia to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine in line with the United Nations Charter.
In a statement, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation says the UN Charter enjoins all member states to settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice are not endangered.
“Armed conflict will no doubt result in human suffering and destruction, the effects of which will not only affect Ukraine but also reverberate across the world. No country is immune to the effects of this conflict. As the UN Secretary-General has indicated, the conflict will have a huge impact on the “global economy in a moment when we are emerging from the COVID pandemic and so many developing countries need to have space for the recovery”.
What we know about the Russia-Ukraine conflict:
