The two – Prigozhin and Hemeti – betrayed the men who initially sponsored their forces President Vladimir Putin and General Omer Ahmed Hassan el Beshir respectively...

If President Vladimir Putin plans to go ahead with his grand Africa-Russia conference in St Petersburg on 22-23 July he will have to resolve the status of Prigozhin and Wagner in countries such as Mali Burkina Faso CAR Sudan and Libya which formed a key cohort of cheerleaders for Moscow on the continent (AC Vol 64 No 3 President Putin's Africa summit in July will be key diplomatic test) ; Wagner may be swallowed into a 'legal' private military company that would normalise its operations in line with other such companies operated by the Ministry of Defence Gazprom Rosatom and other state entities...

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa who led the delegation to St Petersburg told Russian President Vladimir Putin that 'the war has to have an end'...

Putin's presence is key issue for BRICS summit Looming large at the BRICS (Brazil Russia India China and South Africa) foreign affairs ministerial meeting in Cape Town on 1 and 2 June was the question of whether the leaders' summit in August would be held in the country and whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would attend despite his indictment for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (AC Vol 64 No 3 President Putin's Africa summit in July will be key diplomatic test)...

Officials in South Africa look irritated by persistent questions about how they will handle the possible attendance of Russian President Vladimir Putin at a BRICS (Brazil Russia India China and South Africa) summit which they are hosting in August...

Vekselberg an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin is subject to US sanctions against dealing with Russia...

This year South Africa chairs the BRICS grouping and will host its summit later this year an event due could bring Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping along with massive international attention to South Africa...

And like President Vladimir Putin's government Issayas's officials have developed a parallel offshore economy to evade sanctions but also capable of laundering vast sums generated from illicit enterprises smuggling and trafficking...

Russian officials are confident that South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend President Vladimir Putin's Russia-Africa summit due to be held in late July in St Petersburg...