President Cyril Ramaphosa and US president Donald Trump discuss Ukraine peace efforts and bilateral relations in a phone call.
Image: Supplied
South Africa is to meet with the US “soon” to resolve bilateral differences over the status of the country, President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed.
Ramaphosa announced on social media platform X that he had a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Thursday morning. Part of the conversation included the fostering of peace in Ukraine.
The President also mentioned the phone call during a media briefing at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Thursday.
“I spoke to US President Donald Trump to discuss the peace process in Ukraine. We both agreed that the war should be brought to an end as soon as possible to stop further unnecessary deaths.
“We both agreed to meet soon to address various matters regarding US-South Africa relations.
“We also spoke about the need to foster good relations between our two countries,” he said.
President Ramaphosa confirms phone call with Trump, agrees to meet soon to discuss US-South Africa relations.
Image: Kamogelo Moichela/ IOL
Since President Trump returned to the White House in January, the US and South Africa's bilateral ties have drastically deteriorated.
In a sharp escalation of diplomatic tensions, Trump expelled South Africa’s ambassador and suspended financial aid, citing strong objections to the country’s land reform policies and its decision to pursue a genocide case against Israel - one of Washington’s key allies - at the International Court of Justice.
Ramaphosa hosted Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on his first official visit to the country. Zelenskyy is the first-ever president from Ukraine to visit South Africa.
But Zelensky had to cut short his inaugural visit to South Africa in response to a devastating overnight missile and drone assault on Kyiv by Russian forces.
Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
IOL Politics