THE ANC has called for a peaceful resolution to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine ahead of Monday’s negotiations at the Belarusian border.
ANC chairperson of the subcommittee on international relations Lindiwe Zulu said the governing party gravely concerned about the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“The ANC is committed to the values of the UN for pursuance of peaceful and diplomatic resolution of conflict. The ANC therefore is quite firm in calling for commitment to dialogue and peaceful resolution of the conflict. The ANC strongly believes that it must be the parties, who are directly involved in the conflict, that must not only commit but come to the negotiating table for resolution of such conflict,” said Zulu.
“History is littered with wars that have been ended or even averted through negotiations. However the dismal failure of the UN cannot be swept under the carpet, more so that, when some world leaders are openly biased in their judgment.”
Zulu said the ANC calls for progressives globally to ensure that any harm to civilians invites appropriate repercussions.
“Even at this hour of darkness, anguish, anxiety and uncertainty, the ANC is hopeful the parties directly embroiled in the conflict will ultimately conglomerate around a negotiating table for a lasting resolution,” said Zulu.
Ukrainian and Russian officials will meet for talks at a venue on the Belarusian border with Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office said on Sunday.
The talks, the first since Russia unleashed a full scale invasion of Ukraine last week, would be held without preconditions and are the result of a phone call between Zelenskiy and the Belarusian president, Zelenskiy said.
“We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River,” he said in a statement.
Zelenskyy previously rejected Belarus, an ally of Moscow which used Belarus as a staging ground for its multipronged invasion, as a location for potential talks.
- – Inside Politics
