Russian President Vladimir Putin talks at the Grand Kremlin Palace, in Moscow, Russia, on March 21. Contributor/Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday, the Kremlin said in a statement.
“The President of South Africa gave a positive assessment of the results of the recent Russia–Africa Summit in St Petersburg, which are bound to further promote cooperation between Russia and African nations,” the statement read.
Putin met with 17 heads of African states for a two-day summit in July in an attempt to strengthen ties with African countries.
“Following their separate meeting on July 29, Vladimir Putin and Cyril Ramaphosa discussed a number of practical issues of bilateral cooperation, with a focus on enhancing trade, economic and investment ties,” the statement read.
“The presidents expressed a mutual desire to continue constructive cooperation on the current international agenda, including preparations for the upcoming BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on August 23–24,” the statement added.
Putin will take part in the summit via video link, according to state news outlets TASS and RIA Novosti. While the Russian leader will not be physically present, will be represented instead by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Putin’s absence is due to the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing an arrest warrant for Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova in March, over an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia amid the brutal invasion. Last month, the ICC chief pressured South Africa to do “the right thing” and arrest Putin if he arrived for the summit of the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS).
Some context: Speaking at a news conference with the chair of the African Union on July 28, Putin laid out the ways he says Russia plans to help African countries. Moscow will provide aid to “strengthen national health systems, improve their reliability, technical equipment, efficiency and resilience in the fight against epidemics,” he said.
A “large-scale program of assistance” for combatting infections in African countries will total 1.2 billion rubles (or about $13 million USD) running into 2026, according to Putin.
Putin also said Russia will “continue to supply African countries with grain on a commercial basis and free of charge.”
It was also during this summit that Ramaphosa and several other African leaders presented a 10-step peace initiative to both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. At the time, Putin said the Kremlin is “carefully” considering the African leaders’ proposal, and blamed Kyiv for not coming to the table.
Source link: https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-08-08-23/index.html