Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will be cutting short a visit to South Africa to urgently return to Kiev after a Russian strike on the capital killed at least nine people.
"I am cancelling part of the programme for this visit and will return to Ukraine immediately after the meeting with the President of South Africa," Zelenskyy, who arrived in the country hours earlier, said on social media.
President Zelenskyy is supposed to arrive in South Africa on Thursday for a two-day state visit at President Cyril Ramaphosa's invitation.
President's spokesperson Vincent Mangwenya said in a statement on Wednesday that the trip, the first by a Ukrainian president, will allow both countries to discuss bilateral relationships and expand cooperation in trade and agriculture.
Magwenya said the trip will also allow him to look into efforts to achieve long-term peace.
The trip follows Ramaphosa's visit to Ukraine in 2023 as part of the Africa Peace Initiative.
Step towards Europe
"South Africa has been criticised previously for taking quite an ambiguous position in defining the conflict," Institute for Security Studies researcher Priyal Singh told AFP.
Ramaphosa invited the Ukrainian leader in February as South Africa was coming under attack from US President Donald Trump, who had also taken aim at Zelenskyy and moved to negotiate an end to the war without involving Ukraine or its European allies.
As Washington has cut international aid and trade, South Africa has moved closer to Europe which had also been critical of its ambiguous position on Russia's war, Singh said.
"South Africa is certainly trying to find common ground with its European partners; it recognises their importance," he told AFP.
"South Africa has an increasingly positive role," said Fulgencio Garrido Ruiz, deputy head of the EU mission in South Africa.
"This is a positive step in multilateral efforts to achieve an inclusive, sustainable and comprehensive peace," he said of Zelenskyy's visit.
It does not come at the expense of its ties with Moscow, though, with Ramaphosa referring to Russia in October as an "ally and precious friend".
He and President Vladimir Putin spoke Monday to "affirm the strong bilateral relations", according to a South African government statement.
"South Africa will continue engaging all interested and affected parties, including the government of Ukraine on finding a path to peace," it said.
While this may be Pretoria's objective, Kiev's interests also lie in growing its international standing and its footprint on the continent.
