Putin in talks with President Mbeki

CAPE TOWN – Russian President Vladimir Putin was holding talks yesterday with his counterpart Thabo Mbeki at the start of an historic visit to South Africa as Moscow bids to reassert its superpower status.

Putin, the first Kremlin leader to visit South Africa, was greeted by a 21-gun salute as he inspected a guard of honour outside Mbeki’s presidential residence in the country’s second city. Walking down a red carpet alongside Mbeki, Putin exchanged words with a cluster of cabinet ministers who had come to welcome the Russian president amid massive security, including snipers posted on rooftops of government buildings.The pair then entered their closed-door talks, the first of a series of meetings for Putin who is also due to address parliamentary leaders and businessmen such as Nicky Oppenheimer, head of diamond mining group De Beers.He is due later in the day to pay a visit to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela, who before Mbeki led South Africa and the African National Congress (ANC), spent 18 years as a prisoner of the former apartheid state.Much of the ANC leadership was schooled in the former Soviet Union, including Mbeki, who underwent military training in Russia as a young man.But as the end of the apartheid era coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union, a potentially fruitful diplomatic relationship failed to take root.Putin’s visit to South Africa, to be followed by a trip to Morocco, is seen as part of a drive by Moscow to reassert its diplomatic influence in Africa and in particular with a country which has its own eyes on a place at the United Nations Security Council table.In an interview published on the eve of Putin’s arrival, South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said cooperation with Russia would enable Africa to “have its voice heard” on international matters.”We hope to develop our relations in the aerospace, energy and military-industrial spheres,” she told the Russian newspaper Rossiskaya Gazeta.A large delegation of Russian businessmen is accompanying Putin, led by metals magnate Viktor Vekselberg.The volume of bilateral trade has grown steadily in recent years, with South Africa exporting around 130 million dollars worth of goods to Russia in 2004.Putin has made clear of his intentions to deepen economic ties during his visit.”Detailed talks are expected on a whole range of bilateral trade and economic links, aimed at pushing them to a significantly higher level,” said a statement from the Kremlin.”Among other things to be discussed are promising projects in areas such as energy, oil and gas, space technology and investment activity.”Zwelethu Jolobe, a lecturer in international affairs at the University of Cape Town, said Putin’s visit would be a chance for Moscow to forge closer ties with a natural ally that it has neglected in the recent past.Nampa-AFPWalking down a red carpet alongside Mbeki, Putin exchanged words with a cluster of cabinet ministers who had come to welcome the Russian president amid massive security, including snipers posted on rooftops of government buildings.The pair then entered their closed-door talks, the first of a series of meetings for Putin who is also due to address parliamentary leaders and businessmen such as Nicky Oppenheimer, head of diamond mining group De Beers.He is due later in the day to pay a visit to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela, who before Mbeki led South Africa and the African National Congress (ANC), spent 18 years as a prisoner of the former apartheid state.Much of the ANC leadership was schooled in the former Soviet Union, including Mbeki, who underwent military training in Russia as a young man.But as the end of the apartheid era coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union, a potentially fruitful diplomatic relationship failed to take root.Putin’s visit to South Africa, to be followed by a trip to Morocco, is seen as part of a drive by Moscow to reassert its diplomatic influence in Africa and in particular with a country which has its own eyes on a place at the United Nations Security Council table.In an interview published on the eve of Putin’s arrival, South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said cooperation with Russia would enable Africa to “have its voice heard” on international matters.”We hope to develop our relations in the aerospace, energy and military-industrial spheres,” she told the Russian newspaper Rossiskaya Gazeta.A large delegation of Russian businessmen is accompanying Putin, led by metals magnate Viktor Vekselberg.The volume of bilateral trade has grown steadily in recent years, with South Africa exporting around 130 million dollars worth of goods to Russia in 2004.Putin has made clear of his intentions to deepen economic ties during his visit.”Detailed talks are expected on a whole range of bilateral trade and economic links, aimed at pushing them to a significantly higher level,” said a statement from the Kremlin.”Among other things to be discussed are promising projects in areas such as energy, oil and gas, space technology and investment activity.”Zwelethu Jolobe, a lecturer in international affairs at the University of Cape Town, said Putin’s visit would be a chance for Moscow to forge closer ties with a natural ally that it has neglected in the recent past.Nampa-AFP