US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, has accused the country of providing arms support to Russia in the war against Ukraine.
Reuben Brigety, on Thursday, May 11, at a news conference in Pretoria, said the United States believed the covert weapons supply was linked to a sanctioned company that docked secretly at a naval base near Cape Town last December.
The President of the Russian Federation visited South Africa to strengthen the BRICS alliance. BRICS consist of China, Russia, Mexico, South Africa and Brazil as forerunners.
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South African president Cyril Ramaphosa said an investigation into the visit by a Russian vessel named Lady R to South Africa’s main naval base was already underway behind the scenes with the help of United States intelligence services before Brigety went public that the cargo was weapons and ammunition.
Brigety said the United States is confident that military equipment was loaded onto the Lady R at the Simon’s Town naval base between December 6 and December 8 and then transported to Russia.
Mr Reuben Brigety added that the intelligence questioned South Africa’s supposed neutral stance on the war in Ukraine and its calls for the conflict to end.
‘The arming of the Russians is extremely serious and we do not consider this issue to be resolved,’ Brigety said in comments reported by multiple South African news outlets.
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If South Africa is found to be giving Russia military aid, it threatens to fracture the relationship between the United States and a key partner in Africa.
While Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement later Thursday that there was currently ‘no evidence’ to support allegations that arms were loaded onto the Lady R, The Associated Press established that the vessel is tied to a company that was sanctioned last year by the United States for being involved in transporting military equipment for the Russian government.
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