Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has held a phone conversation with President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa to discuss the conflict in his country nearly two months after the Russian invasion, APA learn on Thursday.
Zelensky tweeted that he told Ramaphosa about his country’s resistance to Russian aggression which was launched on 24 February when the Russians rolled their tanks into northern Ukraine to begin a full-scale war against its southern neighbour.
The two men also discussed the looming global food crisis, brought about by the fighting, which would affect developing countries of Africa and Asia, Zelensky said.
He said the leaders also agreed to strengthen relations and cooperation within international organisations like the United Nations, where South Africa has tended to vote or abstain in favour of Moscow where most of its leaders went to school or got their military training.
The South African presidency, however, has not confirmed of the Ukrainian leader’s phone call to Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa has previously spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and offered to mediate talks between Kiev and Moscow to find a solution to the conflict.
However, nothing materialised out of the South African peace initiative, which was made days after the Russian invasion, according to the presidency.
NM/jn/APA