Zambia’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war has been a subject of controversy.
In 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, resulting in devastating effects on innocent civilians.
Many countries worldwide have been forced to take sides, and Zambia has consistently voted against the war, even at the relevant UN general assembly resolution where Zambia joined the communique of the peace summit.
This is due to the war’s impact on the country, both economically and democratically.
In 2022, Former Republican vice president Nervers Mumba commended the country for voting against the war.
“Voting in favour of the resolution was the right thing to do, and is consistent with the principles of Zambia’s foreign policy which we first formally codified in 1969” he Said.
And in the same year (2022), then Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Stanley Kakubo said Zambia’s vote at the UN General Assembly plenary meeting on the situation in Ukraine was not against Russia but war and bloodshed.
Kakubo insisted that the vote did not in any way injure Zambia’s bilateral relations with Russia, despite some opposition leaders and governance players having advised Zambia to remain neutral.
In February 2023, then-acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Mulambo Haimbe issued a statement, also condemning the war on Ukraine.
This indicated that Zambia was leaning towards supporting Ukraine, despite having diplomatic relations with both countries.
However, during a parliamentary session on June 20th 2024, now Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mulambo Haimbe stated that Zambia desired to maintain good relations with Russia.
“Zambia is a peace-loving nation that seeks to pursue friendly relations with all nations, including the Republic of Zimbabwe, the Russian Federation, and indeed the United States of America, among others,” he said.
He also emphasized Zambia’s non-aligned status.
Despite this declaration of non-alignment, Zambia signed the Ukrainian peace communique, raising questions about its stance.
On August 6th, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba visited Zambia and met with President Hichilema.
Their discussions focused on strengthening bilateral relations between the two nations, which have been steadfast since 1993, and addressing the devastating Russia-Ukraine war.
Later, Minister Kuleba met with the media in Zambia and addressed the recent ten-point peace summit held in Switzerland, which was aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
He stated that the summit was not a failure, despite having a few countries sign the final communique at the beginning.
“More countries, including Zambia, have since signed in favor of Ukraine, demonstrating support and solidarity,” he said.
Kuleba said Zambia signing the communique was enough evidence that the summit was not a failure.
“92 countries are currently signatories to this communique, countries and international organizations, including Zambia. I don’t think Zambia would participate in anything that fails right?” asked Kuleba.
“Zambia cannot participate in something that is a failure, so if Zambia sighed the communique, it means the summit was not a failure, though I know one country that calls it a failure but I will not mention it”, he said.
He also narrated how the war allegedly started and pointed out how he feels it has to end.
“Let’s set the record straight on how this war began in order to understand how it should end. So the war began with Russia invading Ukraine. Taking our territories, killing our people, committing atrocities. I think it is natural to say it should end with the withdrawal of the Russian Army from Ukraine,” he said. “And this is the reason we emphasize the importance of the principle of territorial integrity”
However, Kuleba charged that Russia was not willing to withdraw itself.
He said Ukraine therefore has to create conditions for Russia’s withdrawal.
“Russia will try to fight for the land it has occupied so far. But, every single square meter of Ukrainian territory they currently control is Ukrainian.
It’s not like we controlled Russian territory and they came to liberate it, that is not the case. But it will be very difficult to talk about all the details of the settlement while we are far away from it,” he said.
Kuleba stressed the need for permanent solutions regarding the war.
“I want this war to end tomorrow, preferably today. But it doesn’t depend on me only. And it will be a very painful process because restoring peace is a very painful process,” he said. “There is a huge difference between announcing a ceasefire and ending the war. And we are not looking for any temporary solutions because we know that when we announce the ceasefire today, it will be broken by Russia tomorrow.
Kuleba said that Russia does not stick to ceasefires hence the need to work extra hard on finding solutions that will bring the war to an end, with Russia not repeating its aggression thereafter.
“It is a very complicated task but we have to complete it.” kuleba said.
Regarding the support being received from Zambia and other countries, Kuleba said Ukraine appreciated all of them equally whether the help came from Europe, Africa, Asia or Latin America.
“We appreciate every piece of support but only after we win and this war ends… and when the restoration of just and lasting peace will I be able to say that there was enough assistance.”
“It’s not that we are not grateful, we are grateful…but, as long as the war goes on I think that we need to do more”
Kuleba also disclosed that one of the reasons he was in Zambia was to personally appreciate President Hichilema, the government and the people of Zambia who understand that what Ukraine fights for is also relevant for Zambia and other countries.
“We fight for one thing… for borders to be respected for the country to have its own rights to decide on its own future,” he said. “This whole war is about that, Russia tries to dictate what we have to do and we say no we want to do what we believe is right.”
He said the summit was a strategic first step to bringing together nations who share principles.
With the current support Ukraine has received, Kuleba said that Ukraine will not be alone.
” we have a coalition now and then hopefully we will reach a solution,” he said.
Kulebas visit to Zambia, showed how committed Ukraine is to helping African countries.
In August 2023,
Kuleba promised to ‘free Africa from Russia’s grip’
” Kyiv intends to conduct a diplomatic ‘counteroffensive’ against Russia’s efforts to woo Africa” he said.
Kyiv intends to invest significant political capital to deepen ties with African countries, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said, in a bid to counter Moscow’s influence on the continent.
“We are starting from scratch in Africa. This continent needs systematic and long-term work. It’s not something that happens overnight,” Kuleba said in an interview with Agence French Presse in Kyiv.
“Our strategy is not to replace Russia but to free Africa from Russia’s grip,” Kuleba said, adding that Ukraine wanted to approach those diplomatic interactions with “respect and with the principle of mutual benefit.”
This was in contrast to Russia’s approach, based on fighters from the Africa corps mercenary group and “propaganda“.
“Russia is trying very hard to keep countries in its orbit through coercion, bribery and fear,” he said.
And Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov toured Africa twice since January 2023, seeking to draw it into Moscow’s camp and presenting Russia as a bulwark against Western “imperialism”.
But Ukraine has also been making efforts to woo African countries, such as the recent announcement by kuleba to add Zambia to it’s good program in recent years.
In 2022, the African Union snubbed two attempts by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address its heads of state.
Kuleba also said that Putin’s publicly voiced concerns about food security in Africa were baseless, given Moscow’s exit from the Black Sea grain deal.
The accord was brokered in 2022, by the United Nations and Turkey and allowed about 33 million tonnes of grain to leave Ukrainian ports, helping to stabilise global food prices and avert shortages.
“People in Africa saw that all of Putin’s stories about how he cares about African countries are lies,” Kuleba said.
He described Ukrainian farmers and people in Africa depending on bread availability as the main victims of Moscow’s decision to end safe passage for cargo ships to and from Ukraine’s ports.
“Putin solves his own problems at the expense of Africans and Ukrainians,” Kuleba said.
