Pretoria objects to Israel's presence, among other issues.

South Africa attended Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's global peace summit in Switzerland but condemned it, partly because of the presence of Israel.

South Africa's representative Sydney Mufamadi, President Ramaphosa's national security adviser, who attended the meeting in Burgenstock, rejected the summit communique which was adopted by most of the 101 nations and international organisations which participated.

Saudi Arabia, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates were also among participants which declined to sign the communique, according to Reuters.

But Turkey -- which has sought a role as intermediary between Russia and Ukraine -- did, along with most of the nations which participated. .

Zelensky had earlier hailed the summit as a "tremendous success" which could be the first step towards a just end to Russia's war against his country.

He said the representation of countries from all continents, as well as religious leaders who upheld the UN Charter, meant "'we have managed to avoid ... the division of the world into opposing blocs."

But China and some other nations stayed away altogether, and many other nations sent lower-level delegations because Russia was not there. Ukraine's idea was to build international support for its peace plan - which...