APA-Durban (South Africa) The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)’s long-held plans to expand its territory into former Soviet Union states was the main reason behind the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, according to former South African president Jacob Zuma.
Speaking on the sidelines of a South African National Civic Organisation mini-rally in the port city of Durban on Sunday, Zuma said NATO’s plans to include Ukraine in an expanded western military alliance since the mid-1990s posed an existential threat to Moscow, thereby triggering the current war with its neighbour.
“I think Russia has been saying, ‘This is their neighbourhood. You can’t, in a neighbouring country, bring in NATO to interfere with Russia’,” Zuma told the crowd.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine 16 months ago in what President Vladimir Putin called “a special military operation,” it has faced tough resistance from Ukrainian forces to overrun the country, the former president noted.
This was due to military assistance Ukraine was receiving from NATO members like the United States, Britain, Germany, Spain, Poland and others, he added.
Zuma’s speech came as the President Cyril Ramaphosa-led African Peace Mission to Ukraine and Russia concluded at the weekend, which the South African leader described as “impactful and successful.”
The Ramaphosa-led delegation met both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to broker peace between the two countries.
NM/jn/APA