Cyril Ramaphosa and Biden talks

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke by phone with US President Joe Biden on Friday, a day after the African superpower refrained from voting on a motion banning Russia from a UN rights committee over its aggression in Ukraine.

Ramaphosa, whose government has been chastised for failing to criticise Moscow’s brutal intervention, had lambasted the UN Security Council the day before as “outdated” and in desperate need of reform.

South Africa was among the 58 nations that abstained from voting on the UN General Assembly resolution that suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine.

It was the third time South Africa has refrained from voting on war-related issues.

Ramaphosa said in a tweet Friday that he had a “constructive” phone discussion with Biden.

“We discussed the Ukrainian situation and agreed on the importance of a cease-fire and diplomacy between Ukraine and Russia,” Ramaphosa wrote.

In a summary of the discussion, the White House stated that Biden “stressed the strength of the bilateral cooperation, as well as global difficulties brought on by Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine.”

According to the statement, the American president emphasised “the necessity for a strong, unified international reaction to Russian aggression in Ukraine.”

According to local media, Biden initiated the call to Ramaphosa.

The high-profile censure of Russia at the UN was just the second time a nation has been suspended from the global body’s human rights council; Libya was the first, in 2011.

On Thursday, Ramaphosa slammed the UN Security Council for allowing big states to utilise their strength to make sometimes disastrous judgments.

“The existing composition of the United Nations Security Council is out of date and unrepresentative,” he stated. “It disadvantages developing-country economies.”

Despite international indignation and criticism, South Africa has maintained a non-aligned posture on the Ukrainian war, promoting discussion as the best option for ending the conflict.

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