DA says Naledi Pandor should not meet Sergey Lavrov — unless to pressure Russia to end Ukraine invasion

The Democratic Alliance has called on International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor not to meet her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov — “unless it is to persuade Russia to cease all military operations in Ukraine”.

Pandor’s department announced that Lavrov would meet her in Pretoria on Monday for “bilateral talks”. It is likely the two ministers will discuss relations between the two countries, their joint participation in the BRICS bloc of countries comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, as well as the next Russia-Africa Summit in Saint Petersburg in July.

And the war in Ukraine.

Pandor told Russia’s state TV station, Sputnik, this week that she would definitely be attending the summit. 

Darren Bergman, DA international relations spokesperson, said in a statement on Wednesday: “It is becoming increasingly clear that the South African government is openly siding with Russia.”

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This was shown by Lavrov’s upcoming visit to meet Pandor, Pretoria permitting the sanctioned Russian cargo ship Lady R to secretly offload arms in Simon’s Town last month as well as the joint naval exercise which the SA National Defence Force is to hold with Russia and China next month. 

South Africa’s bias was also shown by its refusal to reject Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Bergman said.

“The DA contends that a friendly engagement between the two countries is not appropriate unless it includes a discussion of how to persuade Russia to end its involvement in Ukraine as soon as possible and/or to stop using South Africa as a staging area for ships and cargo in order to sabotage our application for an IMF loan.

“It is not just out of touch with its people or region, but also with the rest of the world, and any additional meetings that the government would like to have with Russia at this time could have very negative economic repercussions.

“The DA will continue to hold government accountable. We implore the ANC government to place the rights of people above government relations and interest.” Bergman said.

Lavrov’s full itinerary was unclear on Wednesday night, as Russia had not officially announced his visit. In November last year, Russian media quoted his deputy, Mikhail Bogdanov, as saying Lavrov would visit eight African countries in January and February this year, but did not say which. DM