Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that all G20 nations welcomed recent US-Russia talks in Riyadh, which aimed to restore dialogue and address the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Lavrov made the remarks at a press conference on Friday, following the two-day G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, that began on February 20.

Speaking to journalists, Lavrov said “All welcomed our meeting,” while acknowledging that the Riyadh talks marked only the start of dialogue.

The high-level discussions in the Saudi capital earlier this week involved Lavrov, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other officials from both sides. The talks focused on reestablishing diplomatic ties between Moscow and Washington and potential paths toward resolving the Ukraine conflict.

Both sides described the talks as productive, with Lavrov stating that the delegations worked “quite successfully” on improving relations. Rubio called the meeting “the first step of a long and difficult journey but an important one.” 

As a result of the talks, both sides agreed to lay the groundwork for restoring US-Russian bilateral ties and working towards a resolution to the Ukraine conflict. They also committed to organizing a summit between their respective leaders in the future.

Addressing reporters on Friday, Lavrov noted that the way certain “tragicomic characters leading the Brussels bureaucracy and NATO reacted to the Riyadh meeting speaks for itself.”

The foreign minister further argued that only “unhealthy people” would view diplomatic engagement between two global powers as a “betrayal of Western interests.”

Both the EU and Ukraine, which were excluded from the talks in Saudi Arabia, condemned the meeting. Vladimir Zelensky described the talks as “disreputable,” accusing Washington of “helping Putin get out of years of isolation” and portraying Russia as “a victim.” 

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas suggested that Moscow emerged as the biggest winner from the talks, stressing that any peace deal regarding Ukraine has to involve the Europeans and Ukrainians to be effective.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow “has never refused contact with EU nations or withdrawn from negotiations with Ukraine.” He noted that it was Kiev that pulled out of the Istanbul talks in the spring of 2022 and later banned its officials from engaging in any dialogue with Moscow.

The Russian president reiterated that Moscow is ready to return to the peace process at any time, but said the decision ultimately lies with Kiev and Brussels.

https://www.rt.com/russia/613117-lavrov-russia-us-talks-g20/

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

 

South Africa’s Expropriation Act: Between Hypocrisy & Reality

Tamer Mansour, February 23, 2025

US President Donald Trump escalated international tensions by issuing an order targeting South Africa’s land policy and its foreign policy decisions.

 

 

The Executive Order

US President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order on 7 February 2025, titled “Addressing Egregious Actions of The Republic of South Africa”, condemning the Expropriation Act 13 of 2025, with strict accusatory language, as it states that the act is designed to “seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation”, which would lead to “fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners”. This foreign aid acts as the access card to meddling and interference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries 

The EO further declares that South Africa has taken aggressive positions against the US and its allies, namely: “accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide” in the ICJ. Going further to condemn the SA government because of its strengthened relations with Iran.

The Executive Order calls all the US executive agencies (including USAID), to freeze all foreign aid to South Africa. It also offers Afrikaners a pathway to the US Refugee Admissions Program so that they would resettle as “victims of unjust racial discrimination”.

The Hypocrisy

If we try to avoid the not-so-unrealistic assumptions, that the great focus on South Africa from the US, emanates from multiple policies and sovereign choices of the Cape country, such as being the last letter in the initials BRICS, daring to call out Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza at the ICJ, or building good relations with Iran.

Or the farce of Mr. Trump condemning “land expropriation”, while he announces that the US would expropriate the land of the Palestinians in Gaza. Or, the Trump/Musk duplicity, whose immigration policies are very exclusionary, turned abruptly welcoming to South African white Boers to immigrate and take refuge in the United States, to which the White South Africans themselves did not respond favorably.

All that aside, we can proceed to the rational analysis of the reasoning behind the South African Expropriation Act.

The Audit

In November 2017, the South African Department of Rural Development and Land Reform published its 2nd “Land Audit Report”, 4 years after the 1st report was issued in 2013, which found that “most of this state land was unsurveyed and unregistered trust land”. Recommending a phase 2 for the land audit to meet that challenge. The purpose of the 2nd Land Audit was to “provide information on private land ownership by race, nationality, and gender as of 2015”. The audit revealed that South African Whites own 72% of the total farms and agricultural holdings by individual landowners; followed by Coloured at 5%, Indians at 5%, and Africans (80% of the population) at a mere 4%.

The recommendations upon which the Land Audit Report concluded do not propose any unlawful or discriminatory expropriation of land deeds on racial grounds from White Afrikaners to Black South Africans. This leads us directly to the Act.

The Act

The South African government published the Expropriation Act in January 2025, repealing the Expropriation Act of 1975. The 2024 Act is designed to address the main issue, as the act states: “to enable South African citizens access to land on an equitable racial and gender basis”.

The Act stresses in its preamble that: “No one may be deprived of property except in terms of law of general application, and no law may permit arbitrary deprivation of property”, as it moves towards a future where all SA citizens without racial discrimination would be able to “gain access to land on an equitable basis”. The act merely highlights the racial historical background of the discriminatory land ownership status quo across the 8 provinces of South Africa, which that act is trying to address and change.

That historical background is marred with racial & apartheid laws that go back to the notorious Group Areas Act of 1950, further back to the Natives Land Act of 1913, long-preceded by racial colonialist practices since the founding of the Dutch East India Company in 1602, followed within 5 decades by the founding of the Dutch Colony in Cape Town in 1652.

Noteworthy, are the official reactions of the Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower US administrations in the 1950s to the Group Areas Act, which remained neutral, reactionary, and even legitimizing towards white supremacy laws in South Africa, just to maintain mutually beneficial trade relations and the sustainable flow of Uranium from the SA apartheid regime.

The US did not shy away from abstaining in her votes on UN resolutions that condemned the discriminatory policies of the South African government.

This hypocritical pragmatism did stop, until the civil society pressures heightened after the Sharpeville massacre in 1960. And it didn’t bear any fruit, until 1972, when former US Congressmen, John Conyers (D-MI) and Ron Dellums (D-CA), came up with the 1st legislation calling for sanctions and divestment against the South African apartheid regime. This should bring us back up to the hypocrisy part, but instead, let’s move on to reality.

The Reality

Regarding the halting of the US aid to South Africa, the total US aid to South Africa is estimated at $400 million. This amount represents less than 0.1% of South Africa’s GDP of roughly $410 billion. So, I guess, these alarmist doomsday voices warning the African country of disastrous economic consequences, need to reconsider. Or maybe now, after the USAID raid by Musk, these voices might stop howling at South Africa, after their funding dries out.

The time is ripe for African governments and institutions, that rely on US foreign aid, to understand the reality and the purposes behind them. They might find some inspiration in the decisions of Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko and the Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán, against institutions who receive foreign aid in their countries.

This foreign aid acts as the access card to meddling and interference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries, trying like South Africa to clear a path for a better future, by exacting change on its past laws and practices.

The continuous struggle for the awakening of African countries and the entire Global South requires serious measures by its leaders.

It’s time for South Africa to face the bully!

 

Tamer Mansour, Egyptian Independent Writer & Researcher

 

https://journal-neo.su/2025/02/23/south-africas-expropriation-act-between-hypocrisy-reality/

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

 

 

G20 urged to uphold peace and security

Foreign minister says multilateralism, enhancing role of UN are key issues

By CAO DESHENG

Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called on the Group of 20 members to work together to uphold peace and stability to build a more secure world, reiterating the need to defend multilateralism and enhance the role of the United Nations to address global challenges.

Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks in his speech on Thursday at the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The meeting came amid the complex evolution of the international landscape, with the Ukraine crisis continuing and the Gaza crisis lingering. It also took place as South Africa assumed the presidency of the G20 for the first time.

Wang said that the G20 members should work together as guardians of world peace, creators of universal security, and defenders of multilateralism.

He emphasized that all countries should respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as their independent choice of development path and social system.

"We should resolve differences between countries peacefully through dialogue and negotiation and address international and regional hotspot issues through political means, without resorting to bloc confrontation or interfering in the internal affairs of other countries," he said.

Noting that humanity is an indivisible security community, Wang highlighted that the security of one country should not be at the expense of that of others, and the legitimate security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously.

While calling for defending multilateralism, the senior diplomat stated that the more complex the international situation is and the more prominent global challenges become, the more important it is to uphold the authority of the United Nations and give full play to its role.

Regarding the Ukraine crisis, the Chinese foreign minister said the window for peace is opening. China supports all peace efforts, including the recent consensus reached between the United States and Russia, and looks forward to all parties involved finding a sustainable and lasting solution that accommodates each other's concerns, he said.

China is willing to act on the demands of the parties involved, take into account the concerns of the international community, especially countries of the Global South, and continue to play a constructive role in the political resolution of the crisis, he added.

As for the Gaza conflict, Wang called for continuous and effective implementation of the ceasefire agreement and emphasized that the two-state solution is the only viable solution.

The G20 Summit will take place in November in South Africa, which places "solidarity, equality and sustainability" at the center of its G20 presidency.

Addressing the opening of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Thursday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa urged global leaders to embrace inclusiveness, cooperation and reform.

Ramaphosa highlighted pressing global challenges, including geopolitical tensions, climate change, economic inequality and food insecurity, warning that the world's fragile coexistence was under threat.

"These challenges are interconnected. They require responses that are inclusive and coordinated. Yet, there is a lack of consensus among major powers, including in the G20, on how to respond to these issues of global significance," Ramaphosa said. He called for greater consensus among major powers within the G20 to address these issues.

However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped the two-day G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, which would normally be an opportunity for him to push for support on US positions, especially at the start of a new administration.

Rubio posted earlier on social media that he would also not attend the main G20 Summit in Johannesburg in November.

Analysts said Rubio's absence reflects the current US administration's indifference to organizations promoting international cooperation.

Anthony Moretti, an associate professor at the Department of Communication and Organizational Leadership at Robert Morris University in the US, said that Rubio's absence from this important international meeting will have negative ramifications for US-South African relations, as well as its influence over global discussions on the Global South, climate change and international trade.

The US does not want to be involved in discussions or decisions shaping global affairs, and that means Washington loses any credibility when it complains about the outcomes of the South African summit, Moretti said in an opinion piece published on the website of the China Global Television Network.

"In contrast, China, the world's second-largest economy, will be fully engaged, reinforcing its growing stature in the Global South and the G20. This will likely translate into both intangible and tangible benefits."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that as the premier platform for international economic cooperation, the G20 needs to advocate the spirit of partnership, pool efforts to promote global economic growth, set the pace in making global governance more just and equitable, and help countries achieve common development and prosperity.

China will continue to support South Africa's G20 presidency, Guo said at a regular news conference.

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202502/22/WS67b91e28a310c240449d6a3d.html

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.