On Monday 23 January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov received a warm welcome from his South African counterpart, Naledi Pandor. The meeting came as South Africa recently confirmed joint military exercises with the Russian and Chinese navies. The holding of these military exercises “is not entirely neutral”, Steven Gruzd, specialist in relations between Russia and South Africa at the South African Institute of International Affairs, told Le Monde Afrique in an interview.
