Zelenskyy says he’s cutting short South Africa visit after Russian attacks on Kyiv

PRETORIA, South Africa — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday he will cut short an official visit to South Africa because of a major Russian attack on Kyiv overnight.

Zelenskyy still held a planned meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the government’s Union Buildings in Pretoria but said on his Telegram page that he would return home after that.

Ramaphosa greeted Zelenskyy on the steps of the Union Buildings and they shook hands and briefly posed for photographs before going inside.

Zelenskyy arrived in South Africa late Wednesday night just as Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian capital that killed at least nine people and injured more than 70.

Zelenskyy’s trip came as U.S. President Donald Trump made new accusations against him, saying he was prolonging the three-year war by pushing back against any plan to give up territory in any peace deal. Zelenskyy has refused to cede illegally occupied Crimea to Russia as part of a potential peace plan.

Trump said that Zelenskyy was prolonging the “killing field” by refusing to give up Crimea.

Peace negotiations have appeared to stall. Talks involving U.S., European and Ukrainian officials in London on Wednesday were scaled down and made limited progress after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio canceled his attendance, raising doubts about the direction of negotiations.

Zelenskyy wrote on X before he announced he was changing his plans that the visit to South Africa would contribute to efforts “to bring a just peace closer” and was part of a diplomatic effort to engage members of the Group of 20 developed and developing nations. South Africa holds the rotating presidency of the G20 this year.

Ramaphosa has put himself forward as a possible mediator in the war due to South Africa’s ties with Russia through the BRICS bloc of developing nations. Ramaphosa has said he is one of the few leaders that can talk to both sides, although his efforts have produced little concrete progress.

Ramaphosa spoke on a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday and the two leaders had “committed to working together towards a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.” Ramaphosa posted on X on Thursday that he had also spoken with Trump over the peace process and “we both agreed that the war should be brought to an end as soon as possible.”

Ramaphosa said he and Trump had agreed to meet soon, both over the Russia-Ukraine war and South Africa’s bilateral relations with the U.S., which have deteriorated since Trump came into office.

Zelenskyy has questioned Russia’s commitment to peace, saying an Easter ceasefire announced by Putin was not genuine and Moscow continued to launch attacks on Ukraine.

He has repeatedly said that giving up Ukrainian territory for a peace deal is not acceptable to his country.

“There is nothing to talk about. It is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people,” Zelenskyy said this week in response to the U.S. proposal.

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More AP coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine