Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor held a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg. The officials discussed the need for closer coordination of the actions of the two countries in the UN, BRICS and other international platforms.
"During the conversation, various aspects of the Russian-South African strategic partnership were touched upon, including the strengthening of political, trade, economic and humanitarian ties. The focus of the two countries on closer coordination of actions in the UN, BRICS and other authoritative platforms on topical topics of the international and regional agenda was emphasized days," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The diplomatic office noted that Lavrov highly appreciated the efforts of the South African BRICS Chairmanship, held under the motto "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism", and expressed confidence that the meeting in Johannesburg will be "an important step forward in deepening the cooperation in the BRICS-Africa Format".
Later on, Russian Foreign Minister met with former South African President Thabo Mbeki on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.
"President [of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin] sends his regards to you. He recalls his visit, at your invitation, to South Africa in 2006," Lavrov said at a meeting with Mbeki.
Lavrov, representing the Russian side at the BRICS summit, arrived in South Africa on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the minister attended the plenary session of the BRICS summit, where Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke via video link.
BRICS unites Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but recently 23 states have already expressed their desire to join the economic bloc. The countries include Algeria, Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Turkey.