JOHANNESBURG

The US ambassador to South Africa on Thursday accused the country of allegedly providing weapons and ammunition to Russia for its war on Ukraine, according to multiple local media reports.

Ambassador Reuben Brigety said the US was convinced that South Africa had supplied arms to Russian army despite the country claiming to be neutral, the News24 website said.

"Among the things we noted was the docking of the (Russian) cargo ship in the Simon's Town naval base between Dec. 6 and 8, 2022, which we are confident uploaded weapons and ammunition onto that vessel as it made its way back to Russia," it quoted the envoy as saying.

Brigety said arming Moscow is a big concern for Washington, which sees South Africa as an important partner, the TimesLIVE news website said.

He said the issue was one of the concerns raised by senior American officials during a high-level South African delegation's recent visit to the US.

Meanwhile, speaking in the National Assembly, President Cyril Ramaphosa said his government will look into the allegations. “In time, we will be able to talk about it,” he told parliament in a televised session.

In January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited South Africa for bilateral talks and held a joint press conference with counterpart Naledi Pandor in the capital Pretoria.

The next month, South Africa held a joint naval exercise with Russia and China off its east coast, drawing criticism. But Pretoria defended its decision, saying all countries conduct military exercises with friendly countries.