Mozambique and South Africa today called from Pretoria for talks between the United Nations Security Council, Russia and Ukraine.

A joint communiqué from the 3rd Session of the Binational Commission between South Africa and Mozambique states that the presidents of the two countries urged the Security Council to "mandate the Secretary-General of the United Nations to initiate a dialogue between Russia and Ukraine."

The two leaders suggest a balanced dialogue that provides answers to the security concerns of both sides in the conflict.

Last week, the UN general assembly passed a resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the support of 141 of the 193 UN member states.

The resolution had 35 abstentions, including those of South Africa and Mozambique.

"The two presidents also expressed concern over the growing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine," it read.

According to the communiqué, to which Lusa had access, the South African president, Cyrill Ramaphosa, and his Mozambican counterpart, Filipe Nyusi, reaffirmed "the urgency of reforming the United Nations Security Council.

President Ramaphosa reiterated South Africa's support for Mozambique's candidacy for the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member in 2022/23, the statement said.