Ramaphosa Confirms Zelenskyy Visit To South Africa Amid Us Tensions

President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed that embattled Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will make a state visit to South Africa soon.

The two leaders spoke late on Thursday 20 February as they both grapple with strained relations with US President Donald Trump .

I welcome the constructive engagement I had with President Zelenskyy, and I look forward to hosting him in South Africa soon for a state visit, Ramaphosa wrote on X on Friday.

We both agreed on the urgent need for an inclusive peace process that involves all parties in finding a resolution to the conflict and securing a lasting peace. South Africa remains committed to supporting the dialogue process between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump is pushing for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal but is attempting to isolate Zelenskyy from talks. This week, he launched a personal attack on the Ukrainian leader.

A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, Trump wrote on Truth Social .

In a post on X , Zelenskyy thanked Ramaphosa for South Africa's support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

It is important that our countries share the same position: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. We all hope to achieve a just and lasting peace this year. South Africa's voice matters, and we count on its support, he wrote.

The visit is likely to cause even more tensions between Pretoria and Washington in the wake of the fallout from Trumps recent adverse executive order against South Africa.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped this weeks G20 foreign ministers meeting. South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote solidarity, equality, sustainability. In other words: DEI and climate change, he said earlier this month.