South Africa pushes for Putin-Zelensky meeting

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday added his voice to diplomatic pressure to end the war in Ukraine by calling for a meeting between Kyiv and Moscow.

According to a statement from Pretoria, Ramaphosa made his comments during a phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

They come as hopes of a Russia-Ukraine summit appeared to fade, despite US President Donald Trump speaking to both sides over the course of a week.

Trump had raised expectations on Monday by saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky had agreed to meet face-to-face — but on Friday he likened the two men to “oil and vinegar”.

Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for the stalled peace efforts.

“President Ramaphosa stressed the urgency of holding bilateral and trilateral meetings between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine and the United States as key to signal a firm commitment to ending the war,” the statement read.

After their call, Zelensky reiterated on social media his willingness to hold “any format of meeting with the head of Russia”.

“However, we see that Moscow is once again trying to drag everything out even further,” the Ukrainian leader said on X, calling on the Global South to send “relevant signals and (push) Russia toward peace”.

Pretoria’s statement said Ramaphosa, who currently chairs the G20, had also spoken with the French and Finnish presidents and was expected to speak with “other European leaders” in the coming weeks.

Ramaphosa spoke on Monday with Vladimir Putin, whom he described in October at the BRICS summit as a “dear ally” and a “valued friend”.

However, for the first time since Russia’s attack on Ukraine, South Africa voted earlier this year in favour of a UN resolution declaring that Russia had launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.