Pretoria has been under fire since U.S. ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, accused the country on May 11 of supplying arms to Russia. Sharp criticism from Washington and its European allies.Annalena Baerbock of the German Foreign Office is one of the most concerned outspoken A supporter of Kiev’s war effort in Europe said she was “very concerned about the reports” and said “if anyone supplies arms to the aggressors, it would be the opposite of ending the war.” Similar sentiments were expressed across the continent. Responding to the allegations, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office stressed that “there is no record that any country associated with the relevant period/event has approved the sale of arms to Russia.”
South Africa has always remained neutral in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, while Western powers have provided South Africa with tens of billions of dollars worth of armaments and deployed a large number of personnel and supporting assets to the country to directly engage the Russian army. While arming Ukraine heavily, Western powers have threatened economic sanctions against whoever supplies arms to Russia — although only North Korea, Belarus and Iran have reportedly done so.Although China and India did not supply weapons and India continued to receive new weapons as planned despite the war, both countries maintained a significant amount of trade including dual-use goods help russia defend Western economic warfare efforts.
African countries generally do not support the Western stance in Ukraine, which has been sharply criticized across the Western world, with President Ramaphosa pressured to side with the West in the conflict as early as 2022, saying: “We should not be associated with Anyone told us that we should never be in a position where we have to choose who our friends are.” This mirrors the position of much of the non-Western world, with only three non-Western countries—Singapore, South Korea, and Japan—joining the West on Russia. The ranks of sanctions. Other countries such as India, Indonesia and other Asian countries have not taken sides. South Africa, whose foreign policy stance has often aligned with Western interests after the end of apartheid rule by its European minority, was widely branded a “rogue democracy” in 2011 for backing the Libyan government during a Western offensive Months of intensive air strikes. Then-President Jacob Zuma visited Libya twice during the conflict and twice tried to broker a ceasefire, slamming NATO at the time for seeking “regime change, political assassination and foreign military occupation” while blocking any efforts for a peaceful solution. Pretoria was also a leading critic of the formation and rapid expansion of the U.S. Army’s African Command (AFRICOM) in the late 2000s, along with Libya, Nigeria and other African nations.
Despite significant demilitarization following the end of the Cold War, South Africa is considered to have the continent’s leading arms industry, well ahead of key competitors from Egypt and Sudan, and is a significant arms exporter. Its armament ranges from surface-to-air missiles to artillery shells and even attack helicopters—an asset that few other countries in the world can produce. While multiple African countries have been highly supportive of Russia’s position in Ukraine, Uganda being a prime example, South Africa is best positioned to provide meaningful material support. The South African navy has also continued to hold joint exercises with the Russian navy since the start of the war, drawing further criticism in the West and helping to undermine the notion that the world is united against Russia behind the West’s back. Pretoria also said it would withdraw from the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court after a warrant was issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arrest in March, signaling its opposition to the move. The court is thought to have long targeted Western adversaries such as Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir despite intense European pressure following a state visit to Yugoslavia. Pretoria still refused to extradite the latter to the Netherlands in 2015. Africa.The South African government has broadly and severely critical Sudan’s close ties to China, Russia, Iran and other Western adversaries have long made its leaders a target of sanctions and other hostile measures, at a time when Western media were criticized for failing to send the current Sudanese president to Europe.