2023-05-11 19:44:57
The United States ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, accused this country of supplying arms to Russia during Moscow’s war against Ukraine, despite the neutrality that Pretoria claims to maintain in the conflict.
In a press conference in Pretoria, Brigety assured that South Africa provided weapons to Russia through the Russian ship Lady R, which docked at the Simon’s Town naval base in Cape Town (southwest), in December last year.
“Among the things we noticed was the cargo ship docking at the Simon’s Town naval base between December 6-8, 2022, which we are certain loaded weapons and ammunition onto that ship at Simon’s Town while it was returning to Russia. “said the ambassador, as reported by the local channel News24.
“Arming the Russians is extremely serious. And we do not consider this problem solved. And we would like South Africa to practice its non-alignment policy,” stressed the diplomat.
On how accurate the US intelligence information was that the African country delivered weapons to Russia, Brigety assured that he would bet his life on the reliability of that data, according to the South African channel.
The ambassador stressed that the matter was one of the issues of “concern” raised by senior US officials with a high-level South African delegation that recently visited the United States.
In your opinion, it would be “a mistake to underestimate the concerns in Washington”, according to the South African newspaper TimesLive.
Brigety added that other concerns raised by US officials included South Africa’s involvement in military exercises with Russia and China on the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine last February.
“We also express our serious concern about the timing of the joint naval exercises in which South Africa participated with Russia and China in South African waters, which coincided with the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.“, he pointed out.
After disclosing these statements, Vincent Magwenya, spokesman for the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, stated that the Presidency “has taken note of the reported comments attributed to the US ambassador.”
“And we will respond in due time”, Magwenya announced on her account on the social network Twitter.
The African country claims to have taken a neutral stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine and has requested dialogue to resolve the conflict.
This position is not only linked to the strategic political and economic role that Moscow has in some African countries, but also to historical reasons such as Russian support for anti-colonial and liberation movements of the 20th century, such as the fight against the segregationist regime. “apartheid” in the case of South Africa
#accuses #South #Africa #supplying #Russia #weapons #neutrality #war #Ukraine