South Africa states that Ukraine peace talks ought to proceed without any preconditions

During Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to South Africa on Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow should begin without any restrictions, such as Ukraine giving up territory to Russia.

As part of a U.S. peace agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump chastised the Ukrainian president this week for not acknowledging Russia’s possession of Crimea.

As members of the BRICS group of developing economies that aim to overthrow the Western-dominated economic order, South Africa aims to portray itself as non-aligned on the conflict in Ukraine while maintaining positive ties with Russia.

Ramaphosa responded that the matter “should be talked about at the negotiating table” when asked if Ukraine would have to give up any territory to Russia as part of peace negotiations.

At a news conference with the Ukrainian president, Ramaphosa stated, “I told (Zelenskiy) about our own South African experience and said that the negotiations that ended the apartheid nightmare were held on a no-precondition basis.”

As Russia bombarded Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, with missiles and drones, killing at least eight people, Zelenskiy arrived in South Africa overnight. After the attack, he left his first trip to an African nation early to head home.

In response to mounting pressure from Trump, he has been working to bolster international support for Kyiv’s military effort. He stated on Thursday that discussing Ukraine’s “red lines” in talks with Russia would be futile without a complete truce.

This week, Ramaphosa spoke separately with Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump about the peace process in Ukraine.

Zelenskiy and Ramaphosa have met several times, most recently in Kyiv in 2023 as part of an unsuccessful African leaders’ attempt at mediation.