S.Africa's army chief visits Moscow for talks on military cooperation - Russian agencies

During a meeting on Monday between Mbatha and Oleg Salyukov, head of Russia's ground forces in Moscow, "agreements were reached on further increasing cooperation between the ground forces in various fields," the state-run Interfax news agency reported, citing a defence ministry statement, without providing further details.

The chief of South Africa's army was in Moscow on Monday for talks on deepening military cooperation with Russia, Russian news agencies reported, citing the country's defence ministry. Amid intense scrutiny of bilateral ties between Moscow and Pretoria, Russia's defence ministry said Lieutenant General Lawrence Mbatha, who heads South Africa's army, will visit Russian training facilities and arms production sites during his trip.

Highlighting a possible breach of Pretoria's declared neutrality in the Ukraine war, U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety said last week he was confident that a Russian ship had picked up weapons in South Africa in December. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he had opened an inquiry into the allegation.

On Friday, amid the escalating scandal, Ramaphosa held a telephone call with Vladimir Putin in which the pair discussed Ukraine according to a Kremlin readout of the call. During a meeting on Monday between Mbatha and Oleg Salyukov, head of Russia's ground forces in Moscow, "agreements were reached on further increasing cooperation between the ground forces in various fields," the state-run Interfax news agency reported, citing a defence ministry statement, without providing further details.

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