South Africa has turned to Russia for food as it also considers Moscow\u2019s help to mitigate record fuel prices.<\/P>
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President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke on the phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin seeking the supply of agricultural products and fertilizers.<\/P>
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The telephone discussion between the two BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) leaders was a Pretoria initiative.<\/P>
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\u201cThe Presidents expressed satisfaction with the current level of the two countries\u2019 strategic partnership and stressed the shared intention to expand mutually beneficial cooperation, above all in trade, the economy, and investment,\u201d read a Kremlin press release.<\/P>
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\u201cThey also discussed in detail issues of food security, including the supply of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to the African continent, in particular South Africa.<\/P>
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\u201cThe leaders also noted the importance of joint work within BRICS in order to further promote the role of this association in global politics and economics.<\/P>
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\u201cVladimir Putin and Cyril Ramaphosa also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine. It was agreed to maintain contact.\u201d<\/P>
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While Ramaphosa and Putin spoke on the phone, it was the same day South Africa\u2019s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe told parliament they are pondering Russian crude imports.<\/P>
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Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, there have been fuel hikes in South Africa and that has had a knock-on effect on skyrocketing prices of basic commodities.<\/P>
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\u201cWe should consider importing crude oil from Russia at a low price because it is not sanctioned,\u201d Mantashe said.<\/P>
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Mantashe was addressing a parliamentary debate on domestic fuel prices and he added that sanctions announced by the US and EU on Russia \u201chave resulted in major imbalance in the demand and supply\u201d for oil.<\/P>
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The US and EU imposed sanctions on Russian oil imports, but consumers outside their jurisdiction can buy from Moscow.<\/P>
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Also, discounted oil from Russia is available for purchase by BRICS countries and for South Africa, that would be an option from relying on the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.<\/P>
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While Russia has received a cold shoulder from the West since its invasion of Ukraine, a number of African countries have been strengthening their diplomatic relations with Moscow.<\/P>
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Source: Nam News Network<\/P>
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South Africa has turned to Russia for food as it also considers Moscow\u2019s help to mitigate record fuel prices.President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke on the phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin seeking the supply of agricultural products and fertil…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n