“There should be dialogue,” said President Ramaphosa.
QUICK FACTS:
- The president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, said on Thursday that the war in Ukraine “could have been avoided,” blaming NATO’s decision to continually expand military troops eastward, ultimately leading to the current war, NTD News reports.
- “The war could have been avoided if NATO had heeded the warnings from amongst its own leaders and officials over the years, that its eastward expansion would lead to greater, not less instability in the region,” Ramaphosa said.
- Speaking in parliament, Ramaphosa defended South Africa’s neutral approach to the conflict, as the country enjoys friendly relations with Russia, Ukraine, and the West.
- “Our position is very clear. And I did say that there are those who are insisting that we should take a very adversarial stance and position against, say Russia. And the approach that we have chosen to take, which is appreciated by many is that we are insisting … that there should be dialogue,” the president said.
WHAT ELSE SOUTH AFRICA’S PRESIDENT SAID:
- “What is happening out there is undesirable, it is not what should be happening between nations—war, violence never really solves any problems. It is for this reason that we say, we would prefer and we insist that there should be mediation, there should be dialogue and there should be negotiation,” President Ramaphosa said in parliament.
- “Now, for us, this is an important development, whilst other people scream and shout, we want to focus on the outcome—the positive outcome of those negotiations and that mediation process, that is what is important.”
BACKGROUND:
- President Ramaphosa’s statements express a view similar to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s, who said during his announcement of the military operation in Ukraine that his country’s “biggest concerns and worries” have to do with “the eastward expansion of NATO, which is moving its military infrastructure ever closer to the Russian border.”
- “It is a fact that over the past 30 years we have been patiently trying to come to an agreement with the leading NATO countries regarding the principles of equal and indivisible security in Europe. In response to our proposals, we invariably faced either cynical deception and lies or attempts at pressure and blackmail, while the North Atlantic alliance continued to expand despite our protests and concerns. Its military machine is moving and, as I said, is approaching our very border,” Putin said.
- “Any further expansion of the North Atlantic alliance’s infrastructure or the ongoing efforts to gain a military foothold of the Ukrainian territory are unacceptable for us. Of course, the question is not about NATO itself. It merely serves as a tool of US foreign policy. The problem is that in territories adjacent to Russia, which I have to note is our historical land, a hostile ‘anti-Russia’ is taking shape. Fully controlled from the outside, it is doing everything to attract NATO armed forces and obtain cutting-edge weapons.”
- China has also blamed NATO’s “eastward expansion” for worsening tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
