published on devpolicy.org, 12.04.2022
On the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 24 February, the South African government had a clear message: Russia should immediately withdraw its armed forces from Ukraine in accordance with the UN Charter. Ten days later, however, in the vote in the UN General Assembly on 2 March, South Africa could not bring itself to agree to a resolution condemning Moscow’s aggression. Even more striking was the statement that Pretoria published for explanation: “all sides” were asked to abide by international law and the principles of the UN Charter.