South Africa reiterates unwavering support to Russia

NATO countries are demanding South Africa abandon strategic relations with Russia, but the republic will not give in to their pressure.

South Africa's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Alvin Botes made the statement while speaking to TASS on April 4 at a presentation of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) programmes in the country's eastern Mpumalanga province.

"Because of the political stance that NATO has taken on the crisis in Ukraine, we are being pushed to wind down relations with Russia," he stressed. - But we are unwavering in our position of friendship and partnership with Russia."

Botes described the relationship between South Africa and the Russian Federation as strategic and based on historic ties that have been tested over time.

"NATO is currently spending a lot of energy in support of Kyiv, but we do not see a similar effort on the part of the member states of the North Atlantic bloc to achieve a peaceful resolution to the Ukrainian crisis," Botes said.

He said the upcoming BRICS summit in South Africa in August will focus on strengthening global multipolarity and the new security architecture. "We intend to use the upcoming BRICS summit in Durban as a foundation for building a secure world order."

Referring to the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the upcoming summit, Botes said the South African Foreign Ministry was now consulting with lawyers and would soon submit its proposals to the Cabinet. "South Africa has signed the basic documents of the ICC and we have an obligation to it, but we also have an obligation to other countries," he stressed. - We have a strategic relationship with Russia. We are extremely concerned that the ICC rules are applied differently to different countries depending on their political position."

The deputy foreign minister noted that South Africa owes Russia the fact of being in the BRICS group.

During a meeting of the Russia-South Africa Intergovernmental Commission in Pretoria on March 30, South Africa's Foreign and Commonwealth Minister Pandor said South Africa would not succumb to pressure from outside powers to abandon its friendly relations with Russia.

The 15th BRICS summit will be held in Durban on August 22-24. South African President Cyril Ramaposa, who is chairing the BRICS this year, has already sent invitations to the meeting to all leaders of the group. On March 24, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that no decision on Vladimir Putin's trip to the meeting had been made yet.