South Africa walked back earlier complaints that Washington pressured France to rescind its invitation to attend June’s G7 summit, a U-turn that may defuse a diplomatic row.
On Thursday, it emerged that Paris had rescinded its invitation to Pretoria, which a South African presidency spokesperson said was “due to sustained pressure” from Washington, adding that the US threatened to boycott if South Africa attended. But President Cyril Ramaphosa later said there was no pressure from “the United States or any other country.”
Ramaphosa’s public reversal could de-escalate its dispute with both Washington and Paris. A French official earlier denied excluding South Africa from the upcoming meeting, saying that Paris had invited Kenya as the African representative for the talks alongside the leaders of Brazil, India, and South Korea.
Relations between Pretoria and Washington have been deteriorating for years. The US continues to argue that South Africa discriminates against its white minority, a charge that Pretoria and experts have dismissed. Relations between the countries were already strained over a genocide case that South Africa filed against Israel in 2023. Earlier this month, South Africa summoned the new US ambassador for a formal dressing down after he publicly dismissed a court ruling about an anti-apartheid chant.