South Africa, US presidents agree war in Ukraine should end

ANKARA

South Africa’s president on Thursday said he agreed with his American counterpart that the war in Ukraine should end.

“I spoke to President @DonaldTrump to discuss the peace process in Ukraine. We both agreed that the war should be brought to an end as soon as possible to stop further unnecessary deaths,” Cyril Ramaphosa wrote on X on the same day Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was welcomed in Pretoria for a state visit.

Zelenskyy announced earlier that he partially canceled the program of his visit due to Russian airstrikes the day before and will return to Ukraine sooner than planned.

Ramaphosa added that he also agreed with Trump “to meet soon to address various matters regarding US-South Africa relations.”

Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared South Africa’s ambassador to the US persona non grata after Ebrahim Rasool accused Trump of pursuing policies and practices that the envoy characterized as "a white supremacist response to growing demographic diversity in the United States."

Trump also signed an executive order cutting US financial assistance to South Africa, citing concerns about its land expropriation law, a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, and deepening ties with Iran.

Ramaphosa also spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, and the two committed to work for a "peaceful resolution" of the Ukraine conflict.