South Sudanese FM Praises President's 'Historical' Visit to Russia

The visit of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit to Russia was "really wonderful," and the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was "very successful," South Sudanese Foreign Minister James Pitia Morgan told Sputnik Africa in an exclusive interview.

"I think the meeting was very successful. It was friendly, brotherly. And though the visit was for the first time, we have not been new to the Russian people and Russian leadership. We have been engaged in many arenas, in the multilateral and in other things. So the visit, though it was the first of its kind, we can call it a historical visit, but we had been together in many areas. And I can assess that the visit was really very, very wonderful," the top diplomat said.

Morgan added that the leader of the African country and his delegation are thankful for the "warm welcome" they received.

"My president, General Salva Kiir Mayardit, yesterday expressed his happiness for the warm welcome that was accorded to him and his delegation by the leadership of His Excellency Putin and the people of Russia. To that we are so grateful," he noted.

Moreover, the foreign minister stressed that as a new nation that wants to "be a part of the international community," South Sudan "appreciated" Russia's readiness to help ensure security in the African country.

"South Sudan is a new nation. And as a new nation, we are open to friends around the globe who can come to our help. Whenever we need help, we can ask a friend. And we always say, 'a friend in need is a friend indeed'. And we appreciate that statement of His Excellency Putin that they can help us. We need help. And that is why our president has taken this step to look for friends. We are not an island. South Sudan is not an island. And we need to live with the members of the international community, and we want to be part of the international community, and we want to be part of peace," Morgan emphasized.

In addition, the top diplomat underlined that the state "doesn't want to fall prey to those who don't want peace," and is "happy" to have a "pro-peace friend" like Russia, which is willing to assist in the field of security.

The foreign minister also highlighted that it is necessary to safeguard peace, for which the people of South Sudan fought, so that the citizens are not "put in a situation where [they] had come from."

"We came from the liberation process and we have completed that process. It is now the time that we need to give the people of South Sudan the peace that they had been fighting for. We were fighting for peace. We were not fighting in order to be in war, and we already got peace. So we need that peace to be protected. That is very important. We need that peace to be protected so that the people of South Sudan can benefit from the peace dividends," he said.

Commenting on the issue of Sudanese refugees coming to South Sudan, Morgan drew a parallel between this situation and the situation between Ukraine and Russia, saying that the people from the two African states also "share one history," are "like brothers and sisters regardless of the past," adding that "doors are open" for the Sudanese to come in.

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Furthermore, he noted that South Sudan as an independent state "looks at [its neighbor] as [its] brother."

Supporting his statement, the foreign minister recalled that Kiir helped to resolve the conflict between Sudan's government and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front, which included several rebel groups that caused insecurity in the country's western region of Darfur. Kiir facilitated the signing of the Juba Peace Agreement between the belligerents, which took place in South Sudan's capital.

However, the armed clashes between the Sudanese regular army and the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that broke out in April, "is threatening that agreement" and is making an "overwhelming" number of refugees come to South Sudan.

"So this situation is of alarm, as especially at the border areas, the schools, the medical centers have become areas of resettlement and the schools in the border areas. Most of the schools are now closed because people have settled there," he added.

Violent clashes between Sudan's regular armed forces and the RSF started in mid-April. According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization, over 1.6 million people were displaced by the continuing violence.

Speaking about reaction of the United Nations on the matter, Morgan said that the "response from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been completely absent."

On September 21, during the 78th session of the General Assembly, the South Sudanese leader called on the international community to help his country host thousands of refugees who have fled neighboring Sudan since a conflict broke out there.

In addition, the foreign minister noted that Kiir asked Putin to provide humanitarian aid to solve the refugee problem, adding that South Sudan believes that Russia "will do that."

"And our president, in his talks with his brother here, President Putin, he has requested if Russia also can come in and help us on this issue of resettling refugees and assist with the humanitarian [factor]. These are temporary, but also our present needs. Russia's involvement [can help] find solutions to this problem. And we believe that Russia will do that for us. Russia will be able to help us in finding the solution so that what is needed is permanent peace so that Sudan can be restored back to its normalcy so that the people who are now in the refugee camps, in the refugee areas, can be able to go back to their areas of origin," the top diplomat highlighted.