According to the British Sky News Network on the 26th, a luxury yacht owned by Russian billionaire Alexei Moldashov, who was sanctioned by the West due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict will be allowed to dock in South African ports. Vincent Magwenya, spokesman for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa , said South Africa has "no legal obligation" to comply with sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union.
"Nord" luxury yacht Video screenshot
reported that the luxury yacht worth more than $500 million will be allowed to dock in the port of Cape Town. The luxury yacht is on its way to Cape Town, according to Marine Tracking Service website Marine Traffic.
Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in late February this year, many Russian rich people have been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union, and Moldashov is one of them. British media reports specifically mentioned that these sanctions were implemented by the United States and the European Union, not the United Nations. Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, several luxury yachts owned by Russian wealthy people have been seized by Western countries .
South African Presidential spokesman Magwenya said South Africa's obligations in sanctions "only related to specific sanctions measures approved by the United Nations," which is a founding member of the United Nations.
According to the website of "Russia Today" TV Station (RT), Russian billionaire Moldashov is worth US$18.3 billion and is a major shareholder of Russia's Severstal. After Russia took special military action against Ukraine at the end of February, the EU, the UK and the United States began to impose sanctions on the company.
RT reported that South Africa had previously refused to participate in the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The South African president said in late May that such restrictions would harm "bystander countries."
On March 18, South African President Ramaphosa said that it was precisely because of the excessive eastward expansion of NATO that intensified the situation in Ukraine. If NATO had not committed "invasive behavior" to Russia before, the situation would not have developed into its current situation. Ramaphosa stressed that South Africa believes that sanctions and launching wars are not conducive to the easing of the problem, and it is necessary to deal with the situation in Russia and Ukraine from the direction of "negotiation and reconciliation". (Editor: HHJ)
