XIAMEN - South African President Jacob Zuma on Monday invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit his country at a meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in China's Xiamen.
The Russian leader thanked his counterpart and pledged to consider the issue.
Russia earlier in the day proposed to create a research platform for the energy sector to be shared among the BRICS states.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak is currently attending the ongoing BRICS summit in China as part of the country's delegation led by President Vladimir Putin.
"The Russian side has stressed the importance of strengthening energy dialogue among the five [BRICS] countries, and proposed to create a platform for BRICS energy research, which will entail sectoral, analytical and scientific exchanges," the ministry said.
The three-day BRICS summit in China's Xiamen kicked off on Sunday. The event is being held in a new so-called BRICS Plus format, with leaders of such non-BRICS countries as Egypt, Mexico, Thailand, Guinea and Tajikistan also taking part in the summit alongside the leaders of the five BRICS nations: Russia, China, Brazil, South Africa and India.
- SPUTNIK