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President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that South Africa has been approached to play a mediation role in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Mr Ramaphosa did not say who had made the approach, but said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and urged him to seek a mediated solution to the conflict.

“President Putin appreciated our balanced approach. We believe this position enables both parties to subject the conflict to mediation and negotiation. Based on our relations with the Russian Federation and as a member of Brics, South Africa has been approached to play a mediation role.” South Africa’s position on the conflict came under the spotlight last week after it abstained from voting on a UN resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

There’s a lot of politicking going on here, but we will pass that by. What we need are connections to Russia so that talking can begin. Only talking is going to fix this issue. It doesn’t matter what we think of President Ramaposa, or his manoeuvrings. If he has an avenue to talk, we must put our prayers behind him.