Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha stated that despite President Zelensky’s shortened visit to South Africa due to a large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine, the trip marks a significant milestone in bilateral relations.
Sybiha wrote this on the social media platform X, Ukrinform reports.
The minister noted that Ukraine values South Africa’s G20 presidency and supports its priorities of greater equity in global governance and increasing the prominence of Africa’s development agenda.
“President Zelensky’s visit, although cut short because of the massive Russian air attack against Ukraine, is a milestone in our bilateral relations. This marks the first official visit of the President to an African nation. The visit shows the great value that we place in our relations. We are working to translate the diplomatic activity into success stories for both countries,” he noted.
Sybiha said he had a separate bilateral meeting with his counterpart Ronald Lamola, as part of President Zelensky’s historic visit to South Africa.
“I informed Minister Lamola about the peace efforts, including the most recent meetings in Paris and London, and Ukraine’s steps toward peace. We want to end this war this year. And we are working with partners to achieve it,” he stressed.
The parties also discussed in detail how to advance Ukraine and South Africa’s mutually beneficial bilateral partnership.
“We are eager to expand cooperation in all areas, including food security, agricultural technology, education, and digitalization,” the minister noted.
As reported by Ukrinform, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky cut short his visit to South Africa due to Russia’s large-scale airstrike on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
Photo: x.com/andrii_sybiha
Source: Foreign Minister Sybiha meets with South African counterpart
