MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. Russian Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has held a meeting with South African Deputy Foreign Minister Alvin Botes to talk about how the republic and other African Union countries can contribute to the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"While considering international issues of mutual interest, special attention was paid to the sharp escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict focusing on the need to end hostilities in the Gaza Strip and provide effective assistance to the population of the Palestinian enclave," the ministry pointed out. "Taking into account the common understanding of the origins and causes of the conflict in and around Ukraine, issues of how South Africa and a number of other members of the African Union could contribute to the search for ways to resolve the Ukrainian crisis were touched upon."

The ministry added that during the consultations, the parties discussed topical issues of further progressive development of the Russian-South African strategic partnership with a focus on enhancing trade, economic, scientific, technical and humanitarian cooperation. "Moscow and Pretoria's focus on deepening political dialogue and coordination of actions within the UN, G20, BRICS, taking into account Russia's chairmanship in this association in 2024, as well as in other multilateral platforms was confirmed," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.