Russian, South African FMs to discuss G20 summit, BRICS agendas

Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Russia and the Republic of South Africa, Sergei Lavrov and Maite Nkoana-Mashabane will discuss on Monday items that expected to be on the agenda of the G20 summit and the BRICS leaders' meeting. "On the eve of the G20 summit, due to take place in St. Petersburg September 5-6, in the run-up to a planned meeting of the leaders of BRICS countries on the sidelines of the forum, as well as ahead of UN General Assembly regular session, the two Ministers will 'compare notes' with a view to further coordinating the foreign-policy actions of our two countries," a Russian Foreign Ministry official said. The Foreign ministers will exchange views on most important matters of the global and regional agendas. South African approaches of solving the major part of matters on the international agenda are similar to Russian: Moscow and Pretoria "come out in favor of forming a new just polycentric world order and supremacy of international law with the central role of the UN, and state the need to reform global governance organizations," the Russian Ministry official pointed out. The South African minister's visit "is expected to contribute to a further progressive development of the dynamic dialogue between Moscow and Pretoria - reliable partners that are brought together by strong ties of friendship and mutual respect, and by striving for mutually beneficial and versatile interaction," the Ministry official emphasized. Moscow sees the purpose of the two Ministers' talks in supporting a high pace of interaction in accordance with the provisions of the Declaration on Partnership and a number of recent intergovernmental and inter-agency accords. "We expect that Nkoana-Mashabane's visit to Moscow will make it possible more fully to tap the rich potential of versatile Russia-South Africa relations for the good of the peoples of our two countries, and in the interests of international peace and stability, and formation of a just and democratic world order," the Ministry official said. The Ministry also pointed out that a record-high trade volume growth between the two countries was recorded in 2012 - by 66.3% to almost $1 billion - and that mutual investments are also gaining in scope.