President of the United States Joe Biden will talk about efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The president will have discussions over the issue with South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa during their meeting at the White House on Friday. The South African president has avoided condemning Russia over war with Ukraine.
“The goal is to have a conversation about the conflict in Ukraine: how we got there, and how we get out of it, and in hearing from President Ramaphosa about his thoughts on the best way forward, sharing ours on how to manage the conflict and to reach a conclusion,” said the senior Biden administration official.
Leading global coalition to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin for the near-seven-month war in Ukraine, Joe Biden moves a step forward to take South Africa’s help in pushing Moscow to sell its oil at below-market rates.
Apart from the burning global topic, the two counterparts would discuss trade, climate and energy as Biden strengthen collaborations with African countries and stays conscious of investments and diplomatic strategies by rivals Russia and China on Africa.
Ramaphosa is staying away from directly condemn Russia for the war while also opposing the general use of force. In March, he blamed NATO’s eastward expansion for regional instability and said the conflict should be solved through United Nations-mediated negotiations rather than Western-led sanctions that hurt “bystander countries.” It is one of 17 African countries to abstain from the UN vote condemning Russia’s assault.
Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) party, governing the country since white minority rule ended in 1994, had strong relations with the former Soviet Union, which trained and supported anti-apartheid activists during the Cold War.
Last month, during his visit to South Africa, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States would not dictate Africa’s choices, following an earlier pledge to “do things differently,” after former U.S. President Donald Trump’s insulting remarks about African countries.
