Is bickering to blame for silence between Ramaphosa and Zelensky?
● President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Ukraine counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelensky, have not spoken because diplomats from both countries are bickering about SA’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, say observers.
The Ukrainians are said to be unhappy that SA requested a call between the two presidents a week after Ramaphosa had a telephone conversation with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
Department of international relations & co-operation (Dirco) spokesperson Clayson Monyela told the Sunday Times that it was Ukraine’s ambassador to SA Liubov Abravitova’s responsibility to facilitate the meeting after a request was made on March 11.
“Our president is waiting for [that phone call] so that he can engage with [Abravitova’s] president. Can she make that happen like the Russians made it happen with their president, Putin?” asked Monyela.
This week Abravitova took to Twitter to express her frustration in trying to secure a meeting with Ramaphosa and Dirco minister Naledi Pandor.
Monyela publicly chastised Abravitova for her “undiplomatic” conduct.
In an interview with the Sunday Times at the heavily guarded Ukrainian embassy in Pretoria this week, Abravitova said she will do whatever she needs to do for her country, even if it’s deemed “undiplomatic”.
“I do understand that SA is the leader of the [Southern Africa] region and there are a lot of challenges that need attention, like in Cabo Delgado in Mozambique. Maybe that is why the contacts are not happening as quickly as we would want,” she said.
Abravitova said that before Ukraine was invaded, she met Dirco’s deputy minister, Alvin Botes, to express her concern over the looming attack.
On the delayed call between the two heads of states, Abravitova said that on February 24, after the invasion began, she requested, through Dirco, to have a meeting with minister Pandor and the president.
“I told them I thought I needed to meet urgently with the president and the minister and then of course we could arrange the telephone call between the minister and presidents. I was informed that the minister was travelling at that time.”
That day, she met Ramaphosa’s special adviser on international relations, Maropene Ramokgopa, and on March 3 she met Dirco officials to discuss how she could help evacuate South Africans from Ukraine.
On why the phone call has not happened, she said: “The call with Mr Putin happened on March 10 and the request to have a telephone call with my president came on March 17.
“We forwarded the information about the request, and the ambassador to SA in Ukraine [Andre Groenewald] received the instructions and also contacted the office of my president so that we could make [a list of] talking points and prepare the files for our presidents.
“We are in a war and our president is talking to the leaders of the countries who are supplying assistance and helping us survive now. Maybe this is the reason for the delay.”
On whether Zelensky was possibly not happy with SA, she said: “I believe my president is very diplomatic and he is respecting the positions of every country. ”
A senior government official who asked not to be named said he believes Abravitova is “blocking the call because she is sulking because Russia was prioritised over Ukraine”.
“She keeps making excuses that she is still trying to gather facts around what the call is going to be about. If she is [annoyed] that the request was made after the Russian phone call, then she is blocking the call. Why does she want to meet the president then? Is this how diplomacy is conducted?”
The official said this could be Abravitova’s desperate attempt to save her post.
“Their president has been firing ambassadors of Ukraine in most capitals because he is accusing them of not doing enough to get support from countries where they are based to support Ukraine in this conflict, so she is under pressure precisely because she is in a Brics member country that has historical ties with Russia.”
Monyela said SA had reached out to the Ukrainians.
“The ambassador of Ukraine has had many meetings with government officials at the level of [the] desk which is supposed to be handling the Ukraine file, right up to the deputy minister and the adviser of the president.
“When she meets the adviser, she is meeting the presidency. Issues that she wanted to raise with the South African government have been raised at all those levels and she has been speaking to the deputy directorgeneral responsible every single day.”
The ambassador’s issues had been heard and factored in to how SA is dealing with the conflict, he said.