Russia, South Africa to collaborate in combating COVID-19
Russian
President Vladimir Putin has discussed pooling efforts in tackling the
COVID-19 pandemic over the phone with his South African counterpart Cyril
Ramaphosa.
"The
heads of states agreed to pool efforts in tackling the coronavirus infection
pandemic, particularly amid the emergence of the new Omicron strain," the
Kremlin press service reported on Saturday.
The World Health Organization (WHO)
designated the B.1.1.529 variant of the coronavirus identified in South Africa
as a "Variant of Concern" and assigned it the Greek letter Omicron
last week. In its statement, the WHO noted that this variant has a large number
of mutations, some of which are concerning. Moreover, according to preliminary
data, the risk of contracting this variant is substantially higher than with
the Delta variant.
Russian nationals do not need a
visa for visiting South Africa. There are no direct flights between Russian and
South African cities.
Putin and Ramaphosa also discussed
the details of preparations to the Russian-Africa summit, the cooperation
within the BRICS framework and the issues of trade and economic cooperation.
The second Russia-Africa Summit is
scheduled for 2022. At the inaugural summit in Sochi in 2019, President Putin
vowed that Russia was “not going to participate in a new ‘repartition’ of the
continent’s wealth; rather, we are ready to engage in competition for
cooperation with Africa.”
