South Africa scolds U.S. ambassador over Russian arms claim

South Africa on Friday rebuked the U.S. ambassador in Pretoria over his suggestion that the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa had supplied weapons to Russia over the winter, deepening strains between Washington and an important African partner over the war in Ukraine. The country’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said it had summoned Reuben E. Brigety II, who has served as ambassador in Pretoria since 2022, to issue a démarche, or verbal message, expressing the government’s “utter displeasure with his conduct and statements” made a day prior. A...