EU launches peace, security & defence dialogue with SA to end conflicts in Ukraine, Palestine, Africa
Speaking on Thursday at President Cyril Ramaphosa's official Cape Town office, Tuynhuys, EU Council president, Antonio Costa, said the dialogue was necessary to address global instability and insecurity.
EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen (left), EU Council president, Antonio Costa (centre), and President Cyril Ramaphosa (right) during the 8th SA-EU Summit at Tuynhuys, Cape Town on 13 March 2025. Picture: GCIS
CAPE TOWN - The European Union (EU) has announced the launch of a peace, security and defence dialogue with South Africa to end conflict in Ukraine, Palestine and on the African continent.
Speaking on Thursday at President Cyril Ramaphosa's official Cape Town office, Tuynhuys, EU Council president, Antonio Costa, said the dialogue was necessary to address global instability and insecurity.
Concluding the eighth SA-EU Summit on Thursday, EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was also pleased that South Africa would host Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in April.
Noting that the eighth SA-EU Summit was taking place against the backdrop of rising conflict around the world, it resolved to launch a dialogue aimed at facilitating a shared understanding of evolving threats and allow for regular dialogue on peace, security and defence-related issues.
Von der Leyen said the Ukrainian people, in particular, deserved peace.
"We exchanged views on a process that has to lead on both sides to an engagement that we will have a true peace agreement, not only a ceasefire."
While globally, South Africa is perceived to lean towards Russia following its invasion of Ukraine three years ago, Ramaphosa said this was untrue.
"In the past, we’ve been branded as being one-sided. Our involvement in all this has demonstrated that we are neutral and we’ve been encouraging both Ukraine and Russia to find a peaceful solution."
Ramaphosa, accompanied by other African leaders, visited in Zelensky in Kyiv and Putin in St Petersburg in 2023 to establish a dialogue aimed at ending the war.