US authorities today welcomed the South African government's promise to open an investigation into a possible arms shipment to Russia in December.
"That would be a welcome step," said an unnamed spokesman for the US State Department.
The presidency of South Africa assessed earlier today as "disappointing" the accusations by the US ambassador in Pretoria that the country supplied arms and ammunition to Russia in December.
"The ambassador's statement undermines the spirit of cooperation and partnership between the two countries" and "no evidence was provided to support those accusations," the statement said.
The Presidency assessed that it was "disappointing" that American Ambassador Robin Brighetti "adopted a counterproductive attitude in public".
(BETA)
The Republic of South Africa has undertaken to launch an independent investigation into the alleged supply of weapons to Russia, the South African presidency announced.
The announcement came after the US ambassador to South Africa, Ruben Brighetti, told South African media at a briefing that Washington believed a Russian ship shipped weapons and ammunition from South Africa in December, Reuters reports.
Since the beginning of the year, Ukraine has received financial aid from the West in the amount of 16,7 billion dollars, said the Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko.
"We have a guarantee from our partners for further support in financing the state budget deficit," Marchenko said.
Last year, Ukraine received 32,14 billion dollars from the West for budget purposes.
Ukraine is facing a deficit of 38 billion dollars this year, and the government is asking for an additional 14 billion dollars for rapid infrastructure reconstruction and the energy sector.
The American ambassador in Pretoria today accused South Africa of providing military support to Russia, despite its declared neutrality in the conflict with Ukraine.
Ambassador Robin Brighetti told local media that the US is confident that "weapons and ammunition were loaded" onto a Russian cargo ship that was off Cape Town in early December, "before it left for Russia."
"The arming of the Russians is extremely serious and we do not think that the issue has been resolved. We would like South Africa to start practicing its policy of non-alignment," the ambassador added.
South Africa did not officially take sides after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and that war triggered major Western sanctions against Russia.
Asked about the reliability of US intelligence on the ship's loading, the ambassador said the data was "solid".
The ship's docking at South Africa's largest naval base sparked controversy in the country before Christmas.
The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, then called on the authorities to explain how a Russian cargo ship targeted by Western sanctions was allowed to enter the port.
The question was also raised as to why the cargo ship docked in a military port and not a commercial one, and "why there is so much secrecy" surrounding that ship.
(BETA)
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced that Great Britain is sending long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine to help push back Russian forces.
Wallace told MPs in the House of Commons that the UK was giving away the Storm Shadow missiles with a range of over 500 kilometres. He did not say how many they are sending, or whether they have already arrived in Ukraine.
In February, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised that Great Britain would be the first to give Ukraine the longer-range weapons it had requested from its Western allies.
The missiles will allow Ukraine to find targets far behind the front lines, including Crimea, which is under Russian occupation. British media reported that Ukraine has pledged not to use missiles to attack Russia itself.
Wallace said the missiles would be used to push back Russian forces on "Ukrainian sovereign territory." He added that British support to Ukraine is "responsible, measured, coordinated and agile".
(BETA)
A Ukrainian drone attacked an oil depot in the Russian border region of Bryansk, the local governor said in a post on his Telegram channel on Thursday, Reuters reports.
"There were no casualties in the attack on a facility near the town of Klinci, owned by the Russian oil company Rosneft, although one tank was partially damaged," said Governor Aleksandar Bogomaz.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country still needs time to launch a long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia, as the military still needs promised help from the West.
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