President Cyril Ramaphosa says it was important that the African leaders took initiative to mediate in the war in Ukraine.
Ramaphosa last month led six African leaders mission to Kiyv and Moscow aimed at brokering a peace deal. The Africa Peace Mission went to Ukraine and Russia as the African continent is impacted by the conflict.
Ramaphosa says other BRICS member countries also engaged the two parties as the war has affected the global economy.
“We did this because as the African countries … the seven leaders of the seven nations felt that we couldn’t be just spectators,” adds Ramaphosa.
President Ramaphosa engages media following key note address:
South Africa is due to host a summit of the BRICS club of nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — next month, which all of the heads of states of those countries are scheduled to attend.
But the ICC has an arrest warrant out for Putin, accusing him of the war crime of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia. South Africa, as an ICC member, is obliged to arrest him should he turn up for the summit.
Ramaphosa made the remarks in a legal response to a court case brought by the opposition Democratic Alliance to compel the government to arrest Putin should he set foot on South African soil. Ramaphosa’s response, which was filed on June 27th, was made public on Tuesday.
In his court submission, he suggested those efforts might be jeopardised. “An arrest of President Putin would introduce a new complication that would foreclose any peaceful solution,” he said.
The Kremlin has yet to say publicly if the Russian president intends to go to the summit, and Ramaphosa said no final decision had been taken. -Additional reporting by Reuters
