People from the Ukrainian Association of South Africa protested outside the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO), where Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Naledi Pandor was hosting her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for bilateral talks in South Africa on Monday.

The protesters held placards that read “Stop Putin”, “Child murderer” and "Warcrime” while shouting slogans ahead of the bilateral meeting between Pandor and Lavrov in Pretoria.

"I would tell him (Lavrov) to stop lying because he is the main liar for Putin and their regime and to stop trying to deceive everybody in the world as to what they are doing in Ukraine and what their purpose is and to admit that it’s nothing else but a genocidal colonial war on the Ukrainian," said one of the protesters, Anastasia Korpeso.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's government regards their country as neutral in the Ukraine conflict and has expressed a desire to meditate. Lavrov and Pandor delivered prepared remarks in front of media before they began private talks.

“As regards the specific situation between us and Ukraine it is well known that we supported the proposal of the Ukrainian side to negotiate, early in the special military operation. And by the end of March in Istanbul – two delegations agreed on the principle to settle this conflict," Lavrov told a news conference during the visit.

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