South Africa is set to host Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on a state visit, President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed on X without giving a specific date.
The invite comes at the end of a week which saw Kyiv excluded from US-Russia talks on how to bring an end to the three-year war in Ukraine.
In a phone conversation, Ramaphosa and Zelensky “agreed on the urgent need for an inclusive peace process”, according to a statement from the South African president. A sentiment Zelensky echoed by saying “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine”.
South Africa, which has in the past been accused of having a closer relationship with Moscow, has tried to play a role in finding an end to the fighting.
In 2023, Ramaphosa led a delegation consisting of seven African countries, including Egypt, Senegal, Zambia, and Uganda, and met Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
South Africa has historic ties with Russia, and both countries form part of the influential Brics bloc – an alliance of major economies that also includes Brazil, India and China.
Ramaphosa, in a post shared on his X page, said: “I welcome the constructive engagement I had with President [Zelensky] and I look forward to hosting him in South Africa soon for a state visit.”
Zelensky, on his part, said he had thanked Ramaphosa for “South Africa’s support of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” in their conversation. “We all hope to achieve a just and lasting peace this year,” he added.
Ramaphosa and Zelensky have had regular conversations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – and have met in person – but despite Zelensky’s interest in a state visit to South Africa, there has been no movement to make this happen until now.
The Ukrainian leader back in December expressed his interest in coming to South Africa during an engagement with African journalists at the International Food Summit, according to South African online publication News24.
“I will be in Pretoria with pleasure, but you must ask Mr Ramaphosa because I think he is more busy,” he told the publication.
Dr Oscar van Heerden, a political analyst at the University of Johannesburg, hailed the planned state visit as a “brilliant” move by South Africa – because it not only allows Kyiv a platform to express its concerns amid the US-Russia talks but sends “a number of messages globally”.
“Ramaphosa is being clever because [US President Donald] Trump might want to dismiss South Africa as a… small African country but we are yet again able to demonstrate that we can operate above our station internationally.”
He added that Zelensky may be appealing to South Africa due to the country’s relationship with Russia and its role as an “honest broker” with no vested interest in the war.
Zelensky’s continued engagement with world leaders comes amid its increasingly tense relationship with the US, which it considers a key ally.
The tension took a turn for the worse this week when Trump accused Zelensky of being a a “dictator” who has “done a terrible job”.
South Africa’s invite also comes at a time of increasingly strained relations with the US. The Trump administration recently cut off aid to the country over a new land expropriation law.
Ramaphosa has said that his country “will not be bullied”.
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