2023-08-17 15:15:00
BRICS summit exposes complex link between South Africa and Russia
The BRICS summit in South Africa next week sparked controversy that exposed, despite the absence of President Vladimir Putin, the strength of ties between Russia and South Africa, dating back to Soviet support for the fight against apartheid. That commitment, which sometimes appears to run counter to South Africa’s commercial and diplomatic interests, has come under intense scrutiny since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. South Africa refrained from condemning the intervention, in a move that came to be interpreted as supporting to Moscow. The long expectation about Putin’s eventual presence together with the top leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), fueled speculation. Putin, the subject of an international arrest warrant, finally decided to remain in his country, avoiding creating a thorny problem for his South African peer, Cyril Ramaphosa.
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