The South African government has also indicated it would be unwilling to arrest the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, if he visited, as expected, for a meeting of leaders of the Brics economic bloc in August, despite the international criminal court issuing an arrest warrant for him. The exercises coincided with the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. South Africa stated it would take a neutral stance over the war but critics said it had in effect sided with Moscow after it hosted the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, for talks in January and allowed Russian and Chinese warships to use its waters for joint naval drills off its east coast in February. South Africa’s position on the war on Ukraine has troubled the US and other western nations ever since it abstained last year in a UN vote condemning Russia’s invasion. Ramaphosa’s office criticised Brigety on Thursday for making the allegations public. They’re cordial, strong and mutually beneficial”. He also said in his Twitter post that South Africa “values the relations we have with the United States of America. Monyela said South Africa would issue a “demarche” against Brigety for his allegations, a diplomatic term that refers to a formal complaint. The issue threatens to seriously strain the relationship between the US and one of its key African partners. The Associated Press has independently verified that the Lady R did visit the South African naval base from 6 to 8 December, as Brigety claimed, and that it is tied to a company that has been placed under sanction by the US for transporting weapons for the Russian government and aiding its war effort. The foreign ministry said in its statement that there was “no record of an approved arms sale by the state to Russia related to the period/incident in question”. His office said in a statement there was currently “no evidence” that arms were loaded on to the ship in South Africa. He said that investigation had started before Brigety went public with his accusation, and it would use any evidence US intelligence officials had over the alleged arms. He called South Africa’s “arming” of Russia “fundamentally unacceptable”.Īfter Brigety’s comments, the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, confirmed an investigation was under way into the visit by the Russian cargo ship. The arms were then transported to Russia, Brigety said. The US ambassador, Reuben Brigety, said at a press conference on Thursday that South Africa had loaded weapons and ammunition on to a Russian vessel, which is under sanctions, at the Simon’s Town naval base near Cape Town in December last year.
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