OREANDA-NEWS. October 1, 2008. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, on September 29, in New York, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Africa, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, on the sidelines of the 63rd UN General Assembly session. 

During the conversation, topical issues in Russian-South African bilateral relations and interaction on the international scene were examined, with the ministers stating the mutual desire to expand cooperation between the two countries in different fields with reliance upon the principles of mutually advantageous partnership.

The sides expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the seventh meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Committee on Economic and Commercial Cooperation between Russia and South Africa, held in Moscow this past May. African themes were discussed. The ministers underlined the importance of further efforts by African countries in search of solutions to the continent’s problems. They noted that the international community should give support to these efforts without attempts of certain states to impose their will on Africans.

Separately the theme of post-conflict settlement in the Caucasus region was touched on, including issues relating to security arrangements for South Ossetia and Abkhazia.