POTUS, South African President to Hold Talks in Washington Friday

Since the beginning of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine to protect the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, the US has been supplying the Kiev regime with weapons worth billions of dollars, trying to isolate Russia on the international arena.

On Friday, US President Joe Biden is set to host South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House, who is paying a visit to Washington at the invitation of the POTUS.

Among the issues that were said to be raised during the bilateral talks are "trade investment, infrastructure, climate and energy, health." The parties are also set to discuss "shared priorities" and "the pressing regional and global challenges that our world faces," according to a White House statement.

The visit of the South African leader to the US comes amid Washington’s attempts to isolate Russia on the international arena amid Moscow's ongoing military operation in Ukraine, which was launched in February after an appeal from the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, which sought protection from constant shelling of their territories by Ukrainian forces.

According to Reuters, citing an unnamed Biden administration official, the issue of Ukraine will also be raised at the upcoming talks.

"The goal is to have a conversation about the conflict in Ukraine: how we got there, and how we get out of it, and in hearing from President Ramaphosa about his thoughts on the best way forward, sharing ours on how to manage the conflict and to reach a conclusion," the official claimed, as cited by Reuters.

Since the start of the Russian operation in Ukraine on February 24, Moscow has become the world’s most sanctioned country. The US has imposed numerous packages of sanctions against Russia since the beginning of the special operation, with a variety of European countries joining them to their own detriment as the sanctions have backfired, leading to a disruption of supply chains and high gas and electricity prices.

The US, meanwhile, has been trying to convince countries in other parts of the world to join the anti-Russian drive.

South Africa along with 17 other African countries abstained from a call in the UN to condemn Russia's operation in Ukraine and didn’t support the March 2 UN General Assembly Resolution ES-11/1 demanding the full withdrawal of Russian forces and a reversal of its decision to recognize the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.

Days after the beginning of Russia's special operation on February 24, on February 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated each other on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and "reaffirmed their commitment to further develop the bilateral strategic partnership, noting, in particular, their readiness to expand trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation.”

Speaking in the country's parliament in March, President Ramaphosa pointed out that the conflict in Ukraine "could have been avoided if NATO had heeded the warnings from amongst its own leaders and officials over the years that its eastward expansion would lead to greater, not less, instability in the region."

The South African leader also warned at the time that third countries "that are either bystanders or not part of the conflict are also going to suffer from the sanctions that have been imposed against Russia."

Russia has on multiple occasions praised the "independent path" of African countries refusing to join sanctions against Russia regardless of the "unprecedented" Western pressure.