Cape Town - President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Mozambican counterpart, Filipe Nyusi, have called on the UN to urge its Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to intervene in the conflict in Ukraine.
Nyusi, who was on a working visit to South Africa on Friday, held bilateral discussions with Ramaphosa where they reaffirmed their position to abstain in the UN General Assembly over the vote to condemn Russia for the situation in its neighbouring state.
In a joint communique Ramaphosa and Nyusi said they believe the intervention of the world body would help in finding a solution.
They said the UN must take the lead in the negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
“The two heads of state further reconfirmed the correctness of the position of their countries’ vote in the United Nations General Assembly on Russia’s incursion into Ukraine on 2 March 2022. The two presidents noted that the decision to abstain was based on the conviction that the resolution was not grounded on a balanced assessment of the underlying causes of the conflict.
“The presidents called for a balanced approach to the conflict through dialogue that will address the security concerns of both parties to the conflict. The two presidents called upon the United Nations Security Council to mandate the United Nations secretary-general to initiate a dialogue between Russia and Ukraine.
The two presidents also expressed concern at the increasing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine,” stated the communique.
The two leaders also condemned the coups in Africa in the last few months. Several governments have been overthrown in parts of the continent, including in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.
Ramaphosa and Nyusi also slammed the granting of observer status to Israel by the African Union.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Political Bureau