WASHINGTON, September 17. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa discussed the repercussions of the situation in Ukraine for food security in Africa during a meeting in the American capital on Friday, according to a statement by the White House.
The two leaders met in order "to address opportunities to deepen [their] relationship, identify next steps on issues of mutual importance, and discuss regional and global challenges." "Together they discussed progress on several of the topics outlined during their initial call in April, including trade and investment and climate and energy," the statement reads.
"The two leaders also committed to addressing several of the world’s most urgent challenges over which we both share concern, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and its negative consequences for food security in Africa. The meeting reaffirmed the value of our longstanding partnership, and underscored South Africa’s influential voice in global affairs," the press service concluded.
Earlier, the White House press pool published Ramaphosa’s remarks to Biden that punishing African countries for ties with Russia would be unfair. He also expressed concern over a bill draft at the US Congress that would counteract Russia's actions in Africa and provide for sanctions for interaction with Moscow in various spheres, ranging from trade and investments to military-technical cooperation.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." Following this, the US and its allies announced the introduction of sweeping sanctions against Russia and stepped up arms deliveries to Kiev.