Cyril Ramaphosa thanked his counterpart for the warm welcome and constructive conversation about possible ways to resolve the situation around Ukraine during the visit of leaders and representatives of a number of African states to St Petersburg in June. Consideration of the African Peace Initiative will continue in conjunction with the Russia-Africa summit at the end of July.
Vladimir Putin and Cyril Ramaphosa also agreed to hold a separate meeting at the summit to have a detailed discussion on the bilateral and international agenda. The President of South Africa informed Vladimir Putin about the preparations for the upcoming BRICS summit scheduled for August 22–24 in Johannesburg.
When discussing the Istanbul package agreements, Vladimir Putin stressed that the obligations envisaged in the relevant Russia-UN memorandum to remove obstacles to the export of Russian food and fertilisers remained unfulfilled. Moreover, the deal’s main goal – to supply grain to countries in need, including those on the African continent – has not been implemented.
The leaders reaffirmed their mutual intention to strengthen cooperation in various fields.