International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola has said that a United Nations Security Council meeting scheduled for Monday night will bring global scrutiny to the US military operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Speaking on the sidelines of an ANC national executive committee meeting in the North West on Monday, Lamola said that the United States would most likely use its veto power to block any action against it, but added it was encouraging that the details would be aired publicly.

“Obviously the veto issues is always an obstacle in the UN Security Council, but the fact that this issue will be ventilated in the Security Council, the whole world will know what happened, how it happened, and this will enable the people of the world to act in unison and in solidarity, because they will now know the facts.

“They would now know exactly how the world must move on. So it is important.
Even if the issue is vetoed, the facts that will be made public and transparent are a very important persuasive force that the world will continue to engage on,” he said.

Lamola said South Africa would continue to be guided by principle and the rule of law, and said it could not be that powerful nations continued to intimidate smaller nations, as had happened before the first and second world wars.

He said international solidarity and collective action had helped bring stability in the global village since the end of World War Two.

“We can’t go back to a period after the First World War, where there were no rules, where there was no world based on international law.

“So, we have to continue to call for rules based on international law that is governed and is rule-based, because if we don’t do so, some of the middle countries like ourselves, third world countries, will have no say anywhere in the world, and might will always be right,” he said.

Venezuela condemned the US “military aggression” on Saturday after President Donald Trump announced that America had carried out large-scale strikes and that Maduro and Flores had been “captured and flown out of the country” during a special forces operation.

The military attacks took place in the capital Caracas as well as the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.

The US has alleged that Maduro is the head of a state-backed cocaine trafficking network that helped transnational criminal groups move drugs to America.

The South American oil-rich country said the attacks violated the United Nations Charter and threatened stability in the Latin American and Caribbean regions.

Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism (narco-terrorism conspiracy), cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

Flores has been charged with cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

Maduro and Flores are set to appear in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Monday, 7 pm South African time.

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South Africa on Wednesday condemned an Israeli military strike in Doha, Qatar, as an “illegal and unprovoked attack”, joining a chorus of international criticism over the operation targeting Hamas leaders that reportedly failed to eliminate its intended targets.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) struck a civilian building in Doha’s Legtaifiya area on Tuesday, claiming it housed senior Hamas Political Bureau members.

The attack killed six people, according to Doha News — five Hamas members and an Internal Security Force officer, but allegedly missed the Hamas leaders.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) issued a statement calling the strike a “blatant violation of international law, breaching the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity” and protections for civilians under the United Nations Charter.

DIRCO highlighted Qatar’s role as a mediator in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, adding that the attack undermined efforts to secure a truce and release hostages held by Hamas.

“This flagrant violation… comes against the background of the Government of Qatar playing a prominent role as facilitator,” the statement said, extending support to Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

DIRCO said South Africa called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to enable “negotiations to a just peace”.

The strike has drawn sharp rebukes globally, with U.S. President Donald Trump expressing frustration, stating he was “very unhappy about every aspect” of the attack and “not thrilled” as it did not advance U.S. or Israeli goals.

South Africa’s condemnation reflects its stance on Israel’s actions in Gaza, where over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack in Israel.

That attack led to the killing of 1200 people and the taking of 250 hostages. Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza, but numbers are unclear as to how many are alive.

Pretoria’s 2023 genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice has deepened tensions with the U.S.

Since the Doha strike, Pakistan and Algeria have pushed for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. According to AFP, that meeting is set for Wednesday night.

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Russia launched a major air attack early Thursday on Kyiv that included a rare strike on the city center, killing at least 19 people, wounding 48 and damaging European Union diplomatic offices, authorities said.

The bombardment of drones and missiles was the first major Russian attack on Kyiv in weeks as U.S.-led peace efforts to end the three-year war struggled to gain traction. Britain said the attack sabotaged peace efforts, while top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas summoned Russia’s EU envoy to Brussels over the strikes that damaged EU offices.

Ukraine on Thursday requested an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the overnight bombardment, while two of Ukraine’s top envoys were set to meet Friday with the Trump administration regarding mediation.

The Kremlin said Russia remained interested in continuing peace talks despite Thursday’s air attack, which was one of the war’s biggest since it began in 2022.

Among the dead were four children between 2 and 17, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s city administration. He said up to 10 more people could still be under the rubble.

Rare attack on center of Kyiv

The attack was one of the few times Russian drones and missiles have penetrated the heart of Kyiv since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 598 strike drones and decoys and 31 missiles of different types across the country early Thursday, most of them striking targets in Kyiv.

At least 33 locations across all 10 of the city’s districts were directly hit or damaged by debris, Tkachenko said. Thousands of windows shattered as nearly 100 buildings were damaged, including a shopping mall in the city center.

Oleksandr Khilko arrived at the scene after a missile hit the residential building where his sister lives in the capital’s Darnytsia district. He heard screams from people who were trapped under the rubble and pulled out three survivors, including a boy.

“It’s inhuman, striking civilians,” Khilko said, his clothes covered in dust and the tips of his fingers black with soot. “With every cell of my body I want this war to end as soon as possible. I wait, but every time the air raid alarm sounds, I am afraid.”

Sophia Akylina said her home in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district was damaged.

“It’s never happened before that they attacked so close,” the 21-year old said. “Negotiations haven’t yielded anything yet, unfortunately people are suffering.”

EU and UK summon Russian envoys after strikes hit their buildings

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said two strikes landed 20 seconds apart about 50 meters (165 feet) from the EU Mission to Ukraine building in Kyiv. She said no staff were injured in the strike.

“No diplomatic mission should ever be a target. In response, we are summoning the Russian envoy in Brussels,” Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said Thursday in a post on X.

The British Council, which promotes cultural relations and educational opportunities, also said its Kyiv office had been “severely damaged” in the attack and was closed to visitors until further notice.

The organization posted a photo showing the building with its windows and entrance smashed open and surrounded by glass and debris. A guard was injured and is “shaken but stable,” council chief executive Scott McDonald posted on X.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “sabotaging” hopes of peace following the “senseless” strikes. The Russian ambassador to London was summoned to the foreign office.

Diplomatic efforts to reach peace have stalled

Thursday’s attack is the first major combined Russian mass drone and missile attack to strike Kyiv since U.S. President Donald Trump met with Putin in Alaska earlier this month to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

“Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X following the attack. “We expect a response from everyone in the world who has called for peace but now more often stays silent rather than taking principled positions.”

While a diplomatic push to end the war appeared to gain momentum shortly after that meeting, few details have emerged about the next steps.

Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian troops move deeper into Ukraine. This week, Ukrainian military leaders conceded Russian forces have broken into an eighth region of Ukraine seeking to capture more ground.

Zelenskyy hopes for harsher U.S. sanctions to cripple the Russian economy if Putin does not demonstrate seriousness about ending the war. He reiterated those demands following Thursday’s attack.

Trump bristled this week at Putin’s stalling on an American proposal for direct peace talks with Zelenskyy. Trump said Friday he expects to decide on next steps in two weeks if direct talks aren’t scheduled.

Russia says it targeted ‘military-industrial complex’

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it carried out a strike against military air bases and companies “within Ukraine’s military-industrial complex” using long-range weapons, including Kinzhal missiles.

“All designated objects were hit,” the ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine has ramped up domestic arms production to fight Russia’s invasion. Many weapons factories operate covertly, with some embedded in civilian areas with superior air defenses. Indiscriminate Russian attacks claiming to target Ukraine’s defense industry have killed many civilians.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said it shot down 102 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly in the country’s southwest. A drone attack sparked a blaze at the Afipsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, local officials said, while a second fire was reported at the Novokuibyshevsk refinery in the Samara region.

Ukrainian drones have repeatedly struck refineries and other oil infrastructure in recent weeks in an attempt to weaken Russia’s war economy, causing gas stations in some Russian regions to run dry and prices to spike.

Ukraine’s national railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, reported damage to its infrastructure in the Vinnytsia and Kyiv regions, causing delays and requiring trains to use alternative routes.

AP

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South Africa and the European Union have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening diplomatic and economic relations, setting the stage for the upcoming 8th South Africa-EU Summit, and marking a renewed focus on trade, investment and geopolitical cooperation.

“In these turbulent times, it would serve us well to recall the historic foundation and shared values which underpin our partnership,” International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola said on Wednesday.

“The principles and values of democracy, respect for the rule of law and human rights, human dignity, equality, sovereignty and respect, which South Africa and the European Union value, must continue to guide and inform our engagements and decisions.”

He was speaking during the 16th European Union-South Africa Ministerial Political Dialogue in Cape Town.

It was co-chaired by Lamola and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.

It included Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau and Agriculture Minister John Steenhuizen.

The dialogue reinforced the EU and South Africa’s shared commitment to multilateralism and a rules-based international order, as outlined in the UN Charter.

Both parties stressed the urgency of reforming the UN Security Council to ensure greater representation, inclusivity and efficiency.

Kallas welcomed the strengthening of relations between South Africa and the EU and the push to develop multilateralism on a global scale.

“Our relations with South Africa are critically important. We share with you as strategic partners a commitment to democracy, multilateralism, human rights and sustainability.

“And of course, like you mentioned, multilateralism is under threat right now, but I think we also need to use this opportunity to develop the international law further to be more inclusive of all the countries in the world and to be also taking into account the accountability issues, how we could prevent future wars,” Kallas said.

Discussions also highlighted their alignment in addressing pressing global crises, including conflicts in Ukraine, Palestine, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The commitment to international humanitarian and human rights law was underscored, emphasising the necessity for peaceful resolutions.

With the 8th EU-South Africa Summit scheduled for 13 March, the dialogue provided an opportunity to discuss economic and trade priorities.

Both parties emphasised the role of international trade in promoting sustainable economic growth, reducing poverty and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

They reaffirmed their commitment to a fair, open and transparent multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organisation at its core.

A significant focus was placed on a just energy transition, ensuring economic security while advancing decarbonisation efforts.

Discussions explored avenues for deeper cooperation on sustainable value chains and critical raw materials, which play a pivotal role in industrialisation and technological advancement, with Lamola underscoring the necessity of balancing the transition to a low-carbon economy with job creation and energy security.

The dialogue also highlighted robust cooperation in education, research and innovation.

Opportunities for South Africa’s expanded participation in EU initiatives, such as the Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions were explored.

Additionally, both sides discussed enhancing partnerships in nuclear medical applications and clean hydrogen technology.

Kallas welcomed South Africa’s potential membership in the Clean Hydrogen Mission, furthering global efforts in sustainable energy.

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South Africa and Nigeria have held their 11th historic Bi-National Commission in Cape Town to enhance their bilateral relations.

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola praised the relationship between the two countries, saying it symbolised a strong bond of cooperation and solidarity.

“This year marks 30 years since our two countries established diplomatic relations, following decades of Nigeria’s relentless support for the anti-Apartheid struggle in South Africa, a gesture we will always cherish,” Lamola said in a statement on Monday.

He said that while there had been progress in boosting their relationship, more work was needed.

“One of the overriding imperatives of our bilateral relations is the need to increase our investment and trade relations to higher levels,” said Lamola.

“… to galvanise economic cooperation and to build upon the already established sectors that both our investors have in our markets, the dentification of bankable projects, particularly in infrastructure development, is one of the key priorities we should jointly pursue.”

He emphasised that it was crucial for SA and Nigeria to expand trade relations and to utilise the opportunities provided within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.

Lamola also spoke about the need to reform some global institutions, saying it was important that progress was realised in the current engagements aimed at reforming the United Nations Security Council. 

He assured the Nigerian delegation that South Africa was committed to ensuring that African developmental priorities were highlighted during its presidency of the G20.

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The United States on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, drawing criticism of the Biden administration for once again blocking international action aimed at halting Israel’s war with Hamas.

The 15-member council voted on a resolution put forward by 10 non-permanent members that called for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in the 13-month conflict and separately demanded the release of hostages.

Only the U.S. voted against, using its veto as a permanent council member to block the resolution.

Robert Wood, deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said Washington had made clear it would only support a resolution that explicitly calls for the immediate release of hostages as part of a ceasefire.

“A durable end to the war must come with the release of the hostages. These two urgent goals are inextricably linked. This resolution abandoned that necessity, and for that reason, the United States could not support it,” he said.

Wood said the U.S. had sought compromise, but the text of the proposed resolution would have sent a “dangerous message” to Palestinian militant group Hamas that “there’s no need to come back to the negotiating table.”

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 44,000 people and displaced nearly all the enclave’s population at least once. It was launched in response to an attack by Hamas-led fighters who killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Members roundly criticized the U.S. for blocking the resolution put forward by the council’s 10 elected members: Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Switzerland.

“It is deeply regretted that due to the use of the veto this council has once again failed to uphold its responsibility to maintain international peace and security,” Malta’s U.N. Ambassador Vanessa Frazier said after the vote failed, adding that the text of the resolution “was by no means a maximalist one.”

“It represented the bare minimum of what is needed to begin to address the desperate situation on the ground,” she said.

Food security experts have warned that famine is imminent among Gaza’s 2.3 million people.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who leaves office on Jan. 20, has offered Israel strong diplomatic backing and continued to provide arms for the war, while trying unsuccessfully to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that would see hostages released in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel.

After blocking earlier resolutions on Gaza, Washington in March abstained from a vote that allowed a resolution to pass demanding an immediate ceasefire.

A senior U.S. official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity ahead of Wednesday’s vote, said Britain had put forward new language that the U.S. would have supported as a compromise, but that was rejected by the elected members.

Some members were more interested in bringing about a U.S. veto than compromising on the resolution, the official said, accusing U.S. adversaries Russia and China of encouraging those members.

‘GREEN LIGHT’

France’s ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said the resolution rejected by the U.S. “very firmly” required the release of hostages.

“France still has two hostages in Gaza, and we deeply regret that the Security Council was not able to formulate this demand,” he said.

China’s U.N. ambassador, Fu Cong, said each time the United States had exercised its veto to protect Israel, the number of people killed in Gaza had steadily risen.

“How many more people have to die before they wake up from their pretend slumber?” he asked.

“Insistence on setting a precondition for ceasefire is tantamount to giving the green light to continue the war and condoning the continued killing.”

Israel’s U.N. ambassador Danny Danon said ahead of the vote the text was not a resolution for peace but was “a resolution for appeasement” of Hamas.

“History will remember who stood with the hostages and who abandoned them,” Danon said.

Reuters

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Leaders of the world’s 20 major economies gathered once again on Tuesday with a lighter schedule after they issued a joint declaration the night before.

The document, which includes calls for a global pact to combat hunger, more aid for Gaza and the end of the war in Ukraine, was heavy on generalities and short on specifics.

The joint statement was endorsed by group members but fell short of complete unanimity. It also called for a future global tax on billionaires and for reforms allowing the eventual expansion of the U.N. Security Council beyond its five permanent members.

At the start of the three-day meeting which formally ends Wednesday, experts doubted Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva could convince the assembled leaders to hammer out any agreement at all in a gathering rife with uncertainty over the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, and heightened global tensions over wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Argentina challenged some of the language in initial drafts and was the one country that didn’t endorse the complete document.

“Although generic, it is a positive surprise for Brazil,” said Thomas Traumann, an independent political consultant and former Brazilian minister. “There was a moment when there was a risk of no declaration at all. Despite the caveats, it is a good result for Lula.”

Taking place just over a year after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the declaration referred to the “catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza and the escalation in Lebanon,” stressing the urgent need to expand humanitarian assistance and better protect civilians.

“Affirming the Palestinian right to self-determination, we reiterate our unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-State solution where Israel and a Palestinian State live side by side in peace,” it said.

It didn’t mention Israel’s suffering or of the 100 or so hostages still held by Hamas. Israel isn’t a G20 member. The war has so far killed more than 43,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials, which don’t distinguish between civilians and combatants when counting the dead, and more than 3,500 people in Lebanon following Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

The omitted acknowledgment of Israel’s distress appeared to run contrary to U.S. President Joe Biden’s consistent backing of Israel’s right to defend itself. It’s something Biden always notes in public, even when speaking about the deprivation of Palestinians. During a meeting with G20 leaders before the declaration was hammered home, Biden expressed his view that Hamas is solely to blame for the war and called on fellow leaders to “increase the pressure on Hamas” to accept a cease-fire deal.

Biden’s decision to ease restrictions on Ukraine’s use of longer-range U.S. missiles to allow that country to strike more deeply inside Russia also played into the meetings,

“The United States strongly supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Everyone around this table in my view should, as well,” Biden said during the summit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t attend the meeting, and instead sent Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Putin has avoided such summits after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant that obliges member states to arrest him.

The G20 declaration highlighted the human suffering in Ukraine while calling for peace, without naming Russia.

“The declaration avoids pointing the finger at the culprits,” said Paulo Velasco, an international relations professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. “That is, it doesn’t make any critical mention of Israel or Russia, but it highlights the dramatic humanitarian situations in both cases.”

The entire declaration lacks specificity, Velasco added.

“It is very much in line with what Brazil hoped for … but if we really analyze it carefully, it is very much a declaration of intent. It is a declaration of good will on various issues, but we have very few concrete, tangible measures.”

The declaration did call for a possible tax on global billionaires, which Lula supports. Such a tax would affect about 3,000 people around the world, including about 100 in Latin América.

The clause was included despite opposition from Argentina. So was another promoting gender equality, said Brazilian and other officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

Argentina signed the G20 declaration, but had issues with references to the U.N.’s 2030 sustainable development agenda. The South American country’s conservative president, Javier Milei, has referred to the agenda as “a supranational program of a socialist nature.” It also objected to calls for regulating hate speech on social media, which Milei says infringes on national sovereignty, and to the idea that governments should do more to fight hunger.

Milei has often adopted a Trump-like role as a spoiler in multilateral talks hosted by his outspoken critic, Lula.

Much of the declaration focuses on eradicating hunger — a priority for Lula.

Brazil’s government stressed that Lula’s launch of the global alliance against hunger and poverty on Monday was as important as the final G20 declaration. As of Monday, 82 nations had signed onto the plan, Brazil’s government said. It is also backed by organizations including the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

A demonstration Sunday on Rio’s Copacabana beach featured 733 empty plates spread across the sand to represent the 733 million people who went hungry in 2023, according to United Nations data.

Viviana Santiago, a director at the anti-poverty nonprofit Oxfam, praised Brazil for using its G20 presidency “to respond to people’s demands worldwide to tackle extreme inequality, hunger and climate breakdown, and particularly for rallying action on taxing the superrich.”

“Brazil has lit a path toward a more just and resilient world, challenging others to meet them at this critical juncture,” she said in a statement.

Leaders pledged to work for “transformative reform” of the U.N. Security Council so that it aligns “with the realities and demands of the 21st century, makes it more representative, inclusive, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable.”

Lula has been calling for reform of the U.N. Security Council since his first two terms in power, from 2003 to 2010, without gaining much traction. Charged with maintaining international peace and security, its original 1945 structure hasn’t changed. Five dominant powers at the end of World War II have veto power — the U.S., Russia, China, the U.K. and France — while 10 countries from different regions serve rotating two-year terms.

Virtually all countries agree that nearly eight decades after the United Nations was established, the Security Council should be expanded to reflect the 21st century world and include more voices. The central quandary and biggest disagreement remains how to do that. The G20 declaration doesn’t answer that question.

“We call for an enlarged Security Council composition that improves the representation of the underrepresented and unrepresented regions and groups, such as Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean,” the declaration said.

The United States announced shortly before a U.N. summit in September that it supports two new permanent seats for African countries, without veto power, and a first-ever nonpermanent seat for a small island developing nation. But the Group of Four — Brazil, Germany, India and Japan — support each other’s bids for permanent seats. And the larger Uniting for Consensus group of a dozen countries including Pakistan, Italy, Turkey and Mexico wants additional non-permanent seats with longer terms.

AP

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