The 12-day-old Russia-Ukraine war “needs to be resolved through mediation, negotiation and peaceful means”, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday.
The president said this in his weekly newsletter to the nation, in which he touched on the latest problems afflicting the global village amid a flurry of sanctions by the world’s most powerful nations against Russia.
According to the United Nations, the conflict has led to thousands of confirmed deaths on both sides and the internal displacement of at least 850,000 people in Ukraine, along with some 1.5 million escaping into exile.
Ramaphosa said his government remained resolute in its belief that the resolution of the conflict could be attained through talks between the two neighbours who once existed as one nation under the Soviet Union until the early 1990s.
“It is our hope that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine yield positive outcomes that pave the way for the end of the conflict,” Ramaphosa said.
He added: “Even though the pace of negotiations may proceed slowly, there is progress nonetheless. Every effort of the international community should be oriented towards supporting these talks and to bringing the two sides together.”
Reflecting on South Africa’s own experience, Ramaphosa said negotiations between conflicting parties ultimately bear the fruits of harmony and peaceful co-existence.
“Our own experience with ending apartheid, and our country’s role in mediating conflict elsewhere on the continent, has yielded a number of insights,” he said.
The first insight was that “even the most seemingly intractable differences can be resolved at the negotiating table,” he said.
“The second is that, even as talks may collapse they can and do resume, as was the case in our own negotiation process.”
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, with President Vladimir Putin claiming that Ukraine had crossed the red line following its desire to join the powerful defence alliance North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
NM/jn/APA