• Sergey Lavrov spoke with South African officials about Ukraine.
• “We have discussed in detail the course of the special military operation in Ukraine”.
• The multinational naval exercises are expected to take place next month.

During a trip to South Africa, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke with government representatives about the situation in Ukraine, he said on Monday.

“Upon the request from my colleagues, we have discussed in detail the course of the special military operation in Ukraine, which is aimed at saving civilians and preventing the creation of direct threats to Russian security near our border,” Lavrov said, using the Kremlin’s euphemism for the war in Ukraine.

“And that is something that the US and NATO allies have been doing for years,” Lavrov added during a joint news conference with South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor in Pretoria

Without going into further detail about their discussions on Ukraine, Lavrov stated that he thought their conversations “had been quite fruitful” with their South African counterparts.

The multinational naval exercises are expected to take place next month and will include participation from South Africa, China, and Russia.

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