By Chisomo Phiri
PRETORIA-(MaraviPost)-South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has blamed NATO for provoking Russia into invading its neighbor Ukraine.
Speaking in parliament on Thursday, March 17, 2022 Ramaphosa said the war, now entering its 4th week, could have been avoided if NATO had not expanded eastward.
“The war could have been avoided if NATO had heeded warnings from amongst its own leaders and officials over the years that its eastward expansion would lead to greater, not less, instability in the region,” said Ramaphosa
He clarified that South Africa cannot condone the use of force and violation of international law
“There are those who are insisting that we should take a very adversarial stance against Russia. The approach we are going to take (instead) is … insisting there should be dialogue.
“Screaming and shouting is not going to bring an end to this conflict,” he added.
Ramaphosa said he did not want to take sides because it would hurt his country’s role as a possible mediator.
He alluded to South Africa playing a similar role in a conflict between Northern Ireland and former Finish President Marti Ahtisaari.