South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in a bid to address mounting tensions and improve diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Ramaphosa announced the development in a statement posted on X on Thursday, revealing that the two leaders had a conversation and reached a consensus to engage in person.
“We also spoke about the need to foster good relations between our two countries,” Ramaphosa said.
The planned meeting follows months of diplomatic strain since Trump returned to the White House in January, testing Washington’s relationship with Pretoria by several moves, including the U.S. government’s criticism of South Africa’s decision to file a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Trump had also expressed concern over claims of land seizures from White farmers in South Africa, a claim Pretoria has repeatedly denied, emphasising that since the end of apartheid in 1994, no state-sanctioned land confiscation has taken place.
Ramaphosa said he had spoken to Trump and the two leaders had also agreed to discuss the peace process in Ukraine and the end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
“We both agreed that the war should be brought to an end as soon as possible to stop further unnecessary deaths. We both agreed to meet soon to address various matters regarding U.S.-South Africa relations,’’ Ramaphosa said in a post on social media platform X.
“We also spoke about the need to foster good relations between our two countries,” he added.
Ramaphosa did not indicate when the meeting with Trump was likely to take place.
