Minister Sergey Lavrov visits South Africa

Minister Sergey Lavrov is in South Africa on the formal invitation of Minister Naledi Pandor.

MINISTER LAVROV ARRIVES AT O.R TAMBO

PROFESSOR FILATOVA WEIGHS IN ON THE VISIT

Prof Irina Filatova, professor emeritus and senior research fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal shared her thoughts on the visit.

While South Africa has always positioned itself as neutral throughout the Russian and Ukraine war, Filatova says that the trip simply came at an “awkward” time.

This neutrality is in my view rather bogus because South Africa has never, never said anything to denounce Russia’s invasion.

says Filatova.

THE TRIP IS EXPECTED TO SOLIDIFY AND STRENGTHEN RELATIONS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND SA

According to Filatova, the trip by the minister is expected to solidify and strengthen relations between Russia and South Africa.

More about the trip, according to Filatova:

• The visit could be about the forthcoming (July 2023) Africa-Russia summit

• The countries could be discussing naval exercises, which are supposed to commence in February at around the same time as the one-year mark of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

As of this morning, on 23 January 2023, the two ministers have already exchanged views on common bilateral, regional and multilateral issues.

Diplomatic relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of South Africa were established on February 28, 1992.

Minister Sergey Lavrov visits South Africa (thesouthafrican.com)