Ukrainian ambassador to South Africa has been accused of being “undiplomatic” with seeking an audience with President Cyril Ramaphosa over the ongoing Russian invasion Ukraine.
Ambassador Liubov Abravitova who said she was forced to use Twitter to request a meeting with the president accused the authorities of allegedly ignoring her numerous requests to meet Ramaphosa and other ministers.
“Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, I did not have any requested meeting with South African government officials. My people are under brutal attack from Russians now,” Abravitova posted on Sunday.
“I don’t only have no choice, I have no time. My people are dying, tortured, raped”, the envoy defended her tweet.
South Africa however has denied Abravitova’s claims.
Clayson Monyela, a senior official of the South African foreign ministry said she had already held meetings with several government officials.
“Ambassador, you know this is wrong and undiplomatic. We’ve long made a request for HE Cyril Ramaphosa to speak to your president. You are not responding,” Monyela replied on Twitter.
South Africa has faced criticism for its neutral stance at a UN General Assembly vote that sought to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council on its invasion of Ukraine.
