The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that tensions between Washington and Pretoria have increased since a Russian cargo ship paid a visit to South Africa’s major naval facility last month. According to the site, the nation’s defense minister claimed that the US has been exerting pressure on African countries over any ties to Moscow.
According to a senior US source who spoke to the Wall Street Journal, Washington is “concerned about the support the South African Armed Forces offered to the ‘Lady R,'” a reference to a Russian vessel that was sanctioned in May over its alleged role in arms transfers for Moscow.
According to the source, the ship was permitted to enter the Simon’s Town navy facility in early December with its transponders off and transport goods freely there. The source of the containers that were placed onboard the “Lady R” is not known to the general public, the official stated.
The publication highlighted remarks made by Thandi Modise, South Africa’s defense minister, last month on the arrival of “Lady R.” She would only state that “whatever contents this vessel was getting were ordered long before Covid,” which was announced in late 2019. She would not clarify what cargo the ship was transporting.
According to Modise, who was reported by the WSJ, “Washington warns Africa, not just South Africa, of having anything that is remotely smelling of Russia.”
According to the article, Washington is authorized by US law to impose penalties on any organization that renders services to a ship that is on a blacklist.
The chairman of the consultancy firm African Defense Review, Darren Olivier, told the publication that it was likely that the “Lady R” was transporting an unfulfilled order of Russian munitions to South Africa. According to him, Pretoria and Moscow had agreed to send 4.5 million rounds of Russian ammunition, valued at about $585,000, back in 2020.
Olivier said that “South Africa’s defense sector does not often create weaponry and entire systems that are employed by the Russian military” in reference to what was put aboard the ship. He said that dual-purpose products, such as aerial drone navigation systems and optics, would be of interest to Moscow.
The US embassy in Pretoria sent a warning in November that a vessel carrying sanctions was on its way to the nation, but the South African authorities did not act, according to the senior US source who talked to the WSJ. According to the report, the circumstances surrounding “Lady R” show how “tough” it is for the US and its partners to penalize Russia.
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