Washington, 24 March 2022 (TDI): This Thursday morning Anthony J. Blinken, the State Secretary spoke to the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor via phone call.
The purpose of this call was to shed light on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and its aftereffects on the daily life commodities in Africa. This war is creating a food security issue in Africa.
Today, I spoke with South African Foreign Minister Pandor about the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and threats from Russia’s war of choice to food security and essential supplies for Africa.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) March 24, 2022
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022. This invasion is the largest military confrontation since World War 2. After the Soviet Union’s fall, many states became independent including Ukraine.
It is the second largest country, by mass and population in Europe. NATO has gained a lot of recognition. It is a military alliance of 2 North American and 28 European states.
The purpose is to protect and preserve peace and prosperity in the North Atlantic area. On 3rd April 2008, Ukraine was open to its membership but the Russian President, Vladimir Putin opposed strongly to such a prospect.
He believes that with NATO being at its border would threaten Russia’s existence and sovereignty. After Volodymyr Zelensky’s triumph in Ukraine, he became the President.
His immediate action included a crackdown on the mafias and business oligarchs that included President Putin’s social circle and friends. In response, President Putin deployed soldiers at the border with Ukraine.
Soon this number reached more than a 1000. He requested NATO and the US government to deny Ukraine membership in NATO but was rejected by President Biden.
Shortly after this denial, on 2 February 2022 the regions of Luhansk and Dotnesh declared their independence from Ukraine. Russia then sent their troops in the disputed area to maintain peace.
On 24 February 2022, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine from the eastern border leading to a full-b scale war. Ukraine broke all ties with Russia and the international community sanctioned Russia economically, cutting them off from the world financially.
The US State Secretary wanted a clear and defined stance on this issue from the world leaders and wishes to swiftly end this conflict, hence the call with the South African minister.
