The Biden administration is troubled by its ambassador in Pretoria Reuben Brigety after he alleged that South Africa had delivered arms to Russia amid the Ukraine conflict, Politico reported on Thursday, citing US officials
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st June, 2023) The Biden administration is troubled by its ambassador in Pretoria Reuben Brigety after he alleged that South Africa had delivered arms to Russia amid the Ukraine conflict, Politico reported on Thursday, citing US officials.
The administration believes Brigety's claims were overstated and may have damaged US interests in the long run, the report said, citing the officials.
Publicly, the US has attempted to walk a fine line between mitigating the potential damage and not appearing to distance itself from its ambassador, the report noted.
Brigety was not authorized to make the claim, two former US officials and a current US official told the news outlet. The diplomat also overstated what the US definitively knows, the current official and a senior administration official said.
"The things we have said publicly we are ready to put the credibility of the US government behind. What he said was far beyond that," the senior official was quoted as saying.
Russian ship Lady R, which is sanctioned by the US Treasury Department, docked at a naval base near Cape Town for a couple of days in December.
In May, Brigety alleged that the US is "confident" that weapons were loaded onto that vessel, and that he would bet his life on the "accuracy" of the assertion. South Africa summoned the ambassador, who Pretoria said had admitted "crossing the line" and apologized. The South African government added it would investigate the allegation.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said that Brigety's accusations reflect Washington's ingrained habit of mentoring countries that pursue independent policies.
