South African President Cyril Rampahosaarrived in the Russian city of Kazan on Tuesday to participate in the annual BRICS top as Moscow looks for to forecast the economic bloc as a geopolitical counterweight to the West.Russian media outletsshared videos of Ramaphosa being welcomed by Rustam Minnikhanov, who heads the republic of Tatarstan where Kazan is located.Ramaphosa will first meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and several other leaders attending the two-day summit, according to the South African presidency.He will then provide a statement throughout a plenary session on Wednesday, as well as a 2nd statement throughout the BRICS Summit Outreach/BRICS Plus session on Thursday.South Africa, which has actually not condemned Russias full-blown invasion of Ukraine, dealt with a diplomatic predicament last year in hosting Putin, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the supposed deportation of Ukrainian kids to Russia.Though a member of the ICC with obligations to perform its mandate, South Africa avoided angering both Moscow and its major Western economic partners by agreeing that Putin would not participate in the 2023 BRICS summit.Ramaphosadisclosed in court documents at the time that Russia had warned that jailing Putin would be a statement of war.South Africa has strong economic and trade relations with the United States and Europe.While trade with Russia is much smaller sized, South Africa has ties with Moscow dating back years, to when the Kremlin supported the ruling African National Congress celebration in its resist apartheid.BRICS takes its name from the first letters of the five members who signed up with between 2009 and 2010.
This year, the group broadened to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.The Kremlin stated the leaders of 24 countries would participate in the BRICS top in Kazan, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.