The United States has welcomed an announcement by the South African government to investigate claims that it provided weapons to Russia to be used in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
South Africa said there’s no evidence to support claims by US ambassador Reuben Brigety that a vessel docked in Simon’s Town took weapons back to Russia in December last year.
The Americans said this went against Pretoria’s claim of a neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.
At the same time, The Presidency said an independent inquiry lead by a retired judge would investigate the claims made on Thursday.
The Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department, Vedant Patel.
“We remain committed to our affirmative agenda of our bilateral relationship with South Africa. One that is focused on the priorities the two governments share, priorities of the recent high-level delegation to Washington discussed, these include issues of global peace and security, further growing the robust trade relationship, working together on a shared health agenda.”