Russian Embassy in SA fires back at US ambassador’s Lady R claims

Cape Town – The Russian embassy in South Africa has responded to the allegations made by the US ambassador, Reuben Brigety, regarding the docking of a Russian ship in Simon’s Town last year.

Ambassador Brigety claimed that the Russian ship had left South Africa loaded with weapons, causing controversy and local outcry.

On Tuesday, the Russian embassy criticised the US for its alleged double standards and hypocrisy, accusing it of attempting to sway South Africa’s neutral stance in the Ukraine conflict.

It described the US’ actions as “megaphone diplomacy” and accused it of appointing guilty parties at its own discretion. The embassy claimed that the US was trying to pressure South Africa, as the country’s non-aligned position in the conflict did not satisfy US interests.

“Appointing guilty parties at [their] own discretion and resorting to ‘megaphone diplomacy’ have become typical characteristics of US foreign policy. In this context, the words of the US official cannot be perceived otherwise than as an attempt to sway the independent sovereign state’s foreign policy.

“This comes as no surprise, as the US seems to have lost its ability to interact with partners on equal basis long ago,” the Russiaa embassy said in a statement, according to Times Live.

The embassy questioned why Ambassador Brigety did not question the need for South African-produced arms and ammunition by Russia, which did not match the types and calibers used by the Russian armed forces.

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It also highlighted the substantial amount of Western military supplies that have been delivered to Ukraine since 2014 and asked why Brigety did not address the use of these weapons to attack cities in Russia’s neighbouring regions.

“But what is more important — why does the US diplomat feel perfectly [comfortable] about the fact that his country and its satellites have been delivering weapons to Ukraine since as long ago as 2014? The total amount of Western military supplies to Kyiv regime exceeded $100bn by 2023 and a new batch for $1.2 billion was approved by Washington the other day.

“Why doesn’t Ambassador Brigety say a word about these arms being used to attack cities in Donbas, as well as Bryansk and Belgorod regions of Russia daily?”

The Russian embassy also criticised the US and accused it of hypocrisy, while defending its own actions and asserting South Africa’s right to pursue an independent foreign policy.

“[The] docking of [the] Lady R in Simons Town is being used as a pretext – totally fabricated and as false as the notorious tune presented by US State Secretary Colin Powell at the United Nations Security Council, which was followed by a full-scale invasion of Iraq,” News24 quoted the Russian embassy as saying.

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Meanwhile, the ANC is set to engage with Brigety, this week.

“With regards to the US, we are going to meet with the US ambassador to understand him quite closely in terms of the issues that he has raised about the African National Congress.

“In our view, a diplomat must understand, especially a superpower like the US, the separation between party approach and government. We had a briefing from the envoy with security adviser Sydney Mufamadi about our government engagement in the US and we were quite delighted with the engagement. We were taken aback by the comments of the ambassador, for which he apologised,” said ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula during a press briefing.

Brigety said the US had noted the hostility of the ANC towards Washington as per its resolutions adopted at the last elective conference, which blamed the war in Ukraine on US’ foreign policy and the expansion of Nato.