From left, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, Brazil’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira, South Africa’s International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Cape Town during their meeting. Picture: Rodger Bosch/AFP
BRICS foreign ministers have welcomed plans for peace efforts to solve the war in Ukraine.
Several countries have offered to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to join the president of Senegal, Macky Sally, Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Congo-Brazzaville’s Denis Sassou Nguesso in a peace mission to Kyiv and Moscow.
The president of China, Xi Jinping, has also offered to mediate.
BRICS foreign ministers, who are meeting in Cape Town, have supported the peace missions.
They have also called for the reform of the UN Security Council, saying developing countries must be part of the council as it would make it more representative.
South Africa has been calling for the change over the past three decades.
They said they supported the global leaders who were involved in peace efforts and mediation in Ukraine.
“The ministers recalled their national positions concerning the situation in and around Ukraine as expressed at the appropriate fora, including the UNSC and UNGA (UN General Assembly),” the foreign ministers said in a joint statement.
“They noted with appreciation relevant proposals of mediation and good offices aimed at peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.
“They called for the full and effective implementation of both the Black Sea grain initiative and the memorandum of understanding between the Russian Federation and the Secretariat of the UN on promoting Russian food products and fertilisers to the world markets and stress the importance of allowing grains and fertilisers to continue to reach those most in need.”
The leaders also condemned the war in Sudan and appealed for a peaceful resolution.
The Sudanese Armed Forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been involved in a conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, under General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, since the middle of April.
The two have been involved in a power struggle after they were part of the transitional council in which al-Burhan was the president and Dagalo his deputy.
The recent peace talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, have collapsed.
“The ministers expressed concern about the outbreak of violence in Sudan. They urged the immediate cessation of hostilities and they called for the unimpeded access of the Sudanese population to humanitarian assistance.
“They welcomed the efforts of the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority for Development, the League of Arab states, the UN and its security council in seeking solutions for the ongoing crisis. They further welcomed support rendered by various countries, international organisations and agencies in the evacuation of foreign citizens from Sudan,” said the foreign ministers.
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