Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma will visit Russia on Thursday for talks with his counterpart Vladimir Putin.
During the tour, Zuma and Putin would review bilateral relations and exchange views on critical regional and global issues, International Relations deputy minister Ebrahim Ebrahim said in Pretoria on Tuesday.
“He will be accompanied by a number of ministers. Those ministers are expected to meet their (Russian) counterparts and engage in agreements,” said Ebrahim.
Zuma’s delegation would include International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula; Tourism Minister Marthinus Van Schalkwyk; State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele; Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa; and Energy Minister Dipuo Peters.
Ebrahim said that during Putin’s recent visit to South Africa, the two countries sealed eight agreements in the fields including education, energy, defence, fisheries, mineral resources and transport.
Putin’s visit in March coincided with the fifth Brics summit being held in Durban. Brics is an acronym for the group of developing nations which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Zuma and Putin signed the “Declaration of Strategic Partnership between South Africa and the Russian Federation”.
“This establishes a presidential bilateral mechanism and defines programme areas that will guide the South African-Russian strategic partnership,” Zuma said at the time.
He said a highlight of Putin's visit was the launch of a helicopter maintenance centre by Denel and Russian Helicopters, which would repair and maintain Russian helicopters in Africa.
Putin said there were already huge investments made by Russian companies in South Africa.
The other agreements were signed by the various ministers and senior officials of the two nations. - Sapa