South Africa says its army chief, Lieutenant-General Lawrence Mbatha, is in Russia for a bilateral meeting between the two military establishments.
This visit is happening just days after Washington accused South Africa of secretly selling arms to Russia.
In the statement released on social media, the South African National Defence Force stressed the meeting was planned well in advance” as part of “a long-standing arrangement” and was a “goodwill visit” at the invitation of the Russian army.
Excerpts from the statement reads “It must be noted that South Africa has Military to Military bilateral relations with various countries in the continent and beyond.”
Last week, United States Ambassador to Pretoria Reuben Brigety said that the US believed weapons and ammunition had been loaded onto a Russian freighter that docked at a Cape Town naval base in December.
South African officials swiftly rejected claims. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his weekly newsletter said there is no evidence but an investigation into the matter would be launched.
