Ukraine invites South Africa to take part in Global Peace Summit

The relevant statement was made by the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry, following a meeting between Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba and South African International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor in Pretoria, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“Amid the renaissance of the Ukrainian-South African relations, Ukraine seeks to bring cooperation with the Republic of South Africa to a whole new level. We offer a partnership based on mutual respect and benefit. And I am glad that the Government of the Republic of South Africa shares our aspirations,” Kuleba noted.

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy briefed his counterpart on the situation on the front and the devastating consequences of Russian armed aggression against Ukraine.

In this regard, Kuleba highly praised South Africa’s involvement in the promotion of the Ukrainian Peace Formula proposed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Ukrainian minister invited the South African side to take part in the Global Peace Summit.

Separately, Kuleba touched upon the issue of Ukrainian children illegally deported from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia.

The parties paid special attention to Ukraine’s grain exports and food security in Africa. Kuleba proposed the South African side to join the Grain from Ukraine humanitarian initiative.

In addition, Ukrainian and South African representatives discussed the intensification of cooperation in the digitalization of public services. Kuleba expressed Ukraine’s willingness to share its experience of the ‘state in a smartphone’.

The Ukrainian side also offered to hold a business forum in Kyiv in the near future, involving Ukrainian and South African businesses, in order to increase trade turnover and implement mutually beneficial economic projects.

The two ministers agreed to hold regular political consultations between the foreign affairs ministries and top diplomats.

The parties also considered cooperation between Ukraine and South Africa within the framework of the African Union, intensified communication with African countries, and Ukraine’s involvement in the African mechanisms of free trade.

The Ukrainian minister invited the South African side to pay a visit to Ukraine at any convenient time.

Photo: Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry