The United States expressed “concern” to the Mozambican government that a Russian ship under Washington sanctions docked at a Mozambican port in January, a spokeswoman for the US embassy in Maputo told Lusa on Thursday.
The US Embassy has expressed concern to representatives of the Mozambican government over the docking of a US-sanctioned Russian freighter in a Beira port in January this year. referenced, in response to questions from Lusa.
“Since before Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine began, the US and partners have been working with governments around the world to limit Russia’s access to anything that supports its military,” he added, without elaborating.
It is about the voyage of the Russian freighter “Lady R”.
The US ambassador to Pretoria, Reuben Brigety, said a week ago that South Africa loaded arms and ammunition onto that ship at Simon’s Town Naval Base, near Cape Town, which then sailed to Russia.
Following Brigety’s comments, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said an investigation had already been launched (with the help of US intelligence agencies) into the visit of the Russian cargo ship “Lady R” in December. of any arms sales.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the US diplomat went out to reaffirm “the strong alliance” with South Africa in the sense of “correcting any misinterpretation” of his words and the South African side referred to the ambassador at one meeting “admitted crossed the line and apologized”.
Parallel to this episode, an analysis of data from the Associated Press (AP) news agency indicated that the freighter “Lady R” is linked to a company sanctioned by the United States for already transporting weapons for the Russian government and assisting in their war effort.
At the same time, the Al Jazeera television channel quoted data from the multinational Refinitiv which showed that the cargo ship stopped in the port of Beira between 7 and 11 January, after leaving the naval base of Simon’s Town and before proceeding to Port Sudan, in the Red Sea . .
Lusa sought comments and additional information from the Mozambican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (Minec) and the Ministry of Transport, but in both cases the matter was referred to the Sofala Province Maritime Authority, which in turn failed to provide any additional information on the matter. cargo ship stoppage, confirmed by other port sources.
Mozambique has taken a neutral stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, abstaining from votes condemning Russia at the United Nations and calling for dialogue to end the conflict, from its place as a non-permanent member of the Security Council of the UN.
Source: DN
