Patrushev And Wang Meet In Johannesburg

Russia's RIA news agency has reported that the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, has met with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, in Johannesburg at a gathering of BRICS national security officials to discuss, "how to bolster their two countries' security."

• The meeting of national security officials comes ahead of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg Aug 22-24 - the first in-person gathering of BRICS leaders in three years - expanded to include officials from Iran, Burundi, Egypt, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, UAE and Belarus.
• Interactions between Russia and China will be scrutinised in the leadup to the summit as analysts continue to evaluate the political fallout from the recent Wagner Group rebellion and the Russian withdrawal from the Black Sea grain initiative - two events which may have caused concern in Beijing. A robust mutual show of support will ease pressure on Moscow to moderate its position on grain and bolster Russian President Vladimir Putin's position after a period of uncharacteristic instability.
• The BRICS summit will be preceded by the Russia-Africa summit where Moscow may roll out an alternative plan to supply Russian grain to vulnerable African countries.