President Cyril Ramaphosa has described Russian leader Vladimir Putin as a “valuable ally and a friend” who supported him when South Africa entered uncharted waters after the May general elections.

He told Putin he had formed the Government of National Unity (GNU) with several opposition parties to stabilise South Africa politically after the governing African National Congress received 40% of the national vote.

Putin was widely expected to use the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, to show the world that he still had allies and that Western sanctions and attempts to isolate him had failed dismally.

In a bilateral meeting on Tuesday before the summit, Ramaphosa briefed Putin about the Government of National Unity (GNU) and its rationale. The two leaders led their teams of ministers and senior government officials to the meeting, which one political commentator described as a sign of a “closer relationship” and partnership between Pretoria and Moscow.

Ramaphosa was flanked by Cabinet ministers, including Ronald Lamola, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), Trade and Industry Minister Parks Tau and Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, the Minister in the Presidency. After exchanging handshakes and hugs with Putin, Ramaphosa described the Russian president as South Africa’s valuable ally and friend.

“I am also delighted to be here to brief you and others of the Government and National Unity following our elections in May this year. So, we will have time, as I briefed you over the telephone, that we will have time to talk more about that and inform you of the whole process of governing South Africa with a number of other parties as we have sought to unite the country and stabilise the country politically and operationally. And we are pleased that with your support …we have reached this point in the history of our country,” Ramaphosa said.

Ashraf Patel, a senior researcher at the Institute for Global Dialogue, an independent think tank based at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, said a bilateral meeting between Ramaphosa and Putin signalled closer ties between South Africa and Russia.

“It’s very interesting to note in last year’s BRICS Summit, before the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg 2023, there was a formal summit between South Africa and China that led to a strategic partnership between the two countries. Subsequently, it was returned at the FOCAC [Forum on China Africa Cooperation) Summit, which President Ramaphosa attended, focused on major areas such as infrastructure investment, energy and utilities. It may be a closer relationship with Russia, but it won’t be at the scale of the relationship with China purely because China is integrated into world markets, investments and financial systems. But this could signal a closer partnership around areas such as multilateral [governance institutional] reforms, around potentially UN Security Council (UNSC) matters, African development and the need to find solutions and peace,” said Patel.

He said the relationship between Pretoria and Moscow had always been cordial and within the BRICS ambit.

“So, relationships are good overall. There needs to be diversification of trade. Trade is very much in energy, and there can be the diversification of trade between South Africa and Russia.”

The first in-person BRICS Summit since the alliance expanded to 10 members from five in January this year, kickstarted in the southwest Russian city amid fanfare, pomp, and ceremony. The new member states included Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia. They joined the original members, such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS). Argentina, the sixth nation invited to join BRICS by Ramaphosa at the Johannesburg summit last year, declined the invitation after Javier Melei was elected president.

All the leaders of the BRICS countries, except Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, arrived in Kazan for the summit. Da Silva cancelled the trip at the eleventh hour, citing health concerns, but joined proceedings via video. Bin Salman sent a representative.

Those in attendance included Ramaphosa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-sisi, Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and UAE leader Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Putin said more than 30 countries, including Malaysia and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) member Turkiye, had either applied or expressed interest in joining BRICS. The group has grown in popularity and attractiveness in the global South because it respects each member’s political systems, economic and developmental path, and culture.

Together, BRICS member states account for 45% of the global population, 41% of oil production, 25% of world trade, and more than 30% of the global gross domestic product (DGP).

At their 15th summit in Johannesburg last year, the group’s leaders insisted that they sought a multipolar global order, reforms of international governance and economic institutions such as the UNSC, fair trade and global justice.

Patel, a senior researcher at the Institute For Global Dialogue, maintained that the 16th BRICS summit was significant and strategic because it was the first summit attended by new members.

“It’s significant because a kind of extended bloc of BRICS would mean there are new opportunities in different regions of the world, which now include North Africa as well as the Middle East. Secondly, it also involves a lot of energy producers, and that may bring in new kinds of dimensions. But the most significant is conflict, the wars in the Middle East, the Gaza genocide and so forth. So all of these put together makes it significant,” said Patel.

He said the Kazan Summit differed from previous summits because the current geopolitical fractures reached “very difficult terrain.”

“And that terrain is potential wars in the region involving larger partners; you have seen Iran, you have seen Israel. These are powerful nations in the Middle East that are on the brink of war and that may mean more difficult times for the United Nations system, for the General Assembly, and for the Security Council. It’s a terrible situation with the conflicts in Africa as well, with Sudan, the DRC, and many parts of South Eastern Africa, northern Mozambique. These conflicts are putting a lot of strain on local developments, on governance, and therefore a BRICS bloc with major players can play a role in this,” he added.

Given the Ukraine war and Western sanctions, Patel said the 16th BRICS Summit was a “huge stage” for Putin.

“This is a huge platform for Russia to show that it has normalised relations with the developing world, and it’s a huge boost for the Russian nation as they have largely navigated the effects of sanctions in other elements. I think Russia would want to consolidate those and expand trade relationships with the world,” Patel said.

Moreover, BRICS was a “big attraction” because it was primarily an economic development bloc trying to get a better deal for the developing world. Patel said the New Development Bank, one of the BRICS bloc’s flagship institutions, attracted interest because it offered infrastructure development loans at cheaper rates than the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, which are Western-controlled.

“For Turkiye, it’s a chance to diversity those relationships because, as you know, with the Gaza genocide, Turkiye has become very disappointed with the West. It’s therefore looking for new partners in the East to diversify its political relationships because it has been rejected by Europe for EU membership.”