BRICS ministers maintain stance on Russia-Ukraine conflict

from DION HENRICK in Cape Town Western CapeBureau CAPE TOWN, (CAJ News) FOREIGN Affairs ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) have decried “unilateral coercive measures” amid pressure by the United States (US) to coerce Africa to change its non-aligned stance in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.Following a meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, the ministers warned the pressure by the US was incompatible with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations (UN).

The ministers of the respective countries, Mauro Vieira, Sergei Lavrov, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Ma Zhaoxu (deputy minister)and Naledi Pandor, met ahead of the BRICS Summit to be held in August in Johannesburg, also in South Africa.”The Ministers recalled their national positions concerning the situation in and around Ukraine, as expressed at the appropriate fora, including the UNSC [UN Security Council] and UNGA [UN General Assembly],” a joint statement from the ministers read.

“They reiterated their commitment to enhancing and improving global governance by promoting a more agile, effective, efficient, representative and accountable international and multilateral system.”South Africa and the rest of the continent has maintained a non-aligned stance on the conflict that escalated in 2022 between Russia and Ukraine.

The US and most of the West have taken the side of Ukraine and slapped sanctions on Russia.Russia has strong ties with Africa, dating back to the days of the latter’s struggles for liberation from colonialism by Western nations.

South Africa in particular has borne the brunt of these ties and is under pressure to arrest Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, if he attends the summit in August.There was a fallout with the US after the latter accused the African country of recently supplying arms to Russia.

South Africa will provide diplomatic immunity to all attendees of the two meetings involving BRICS.The ministers meanwhile expressed concern about the outbreak of violence in Sudan.

“They urged the immediate cessation of hostilities and they called for the unimpeded access of the Sudanese population to humanitarian assistance.”They welcomed the efforts of the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority for Development, the League of Arab States, the UN and its Security Council in seeking solutions for the ongoing crisis.

CAJ News

Source: CAJ News Agency