South Africa, criticized for its neutrality in refusing to condemn Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, reinforced its closeness to Moscow yesterday in Pretoria by declaring itself a "friend" during a meeting of the two countries' heads of diplomacy.

The expression of friendship from Pretoria, which last Thursday announced joint naval exercises with the Russian and Chinese navies in February, was made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, during a meeting with her Russian counterpart, Serguei Lavrov, in which she claimed South African "sovereignty" in deciding with whom it establishes relations.

The naval operation "is part of a program of military exercises that the South African defense forces have under agreements with many countries around the world," Pandor argued today at a joint press conference with Lavrov, about a month before the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The South African National Defense Force (SANDF) announced on Thursday that it will be conducting a multilateral maritime exercise on the country's east coast from February 17 to 27, involving the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy and the Russian Federal Navy.

At Monday's press conference, Pandor questioned why "no one asked questions" about other military exercises carried out in the past with Western countries, such as France or the United States.

The exercises aim to improve the skills of South African troops "so that they can respond to a range of situations, including disaster management, in which the army is often involved," said the minister.

Lavrov also defended the maneuvers, assuring that they are a test of Russia's will to "develop" its military cooperation and regretted that the West is presenting them "as worrying, when it is completely common practice" between the countries.

The South African government assured last year that it had adopted a neutral position on the war in Ukraine and called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the conflict, but the opposition accused the executive of supporting Russia.

In this sense, Pandor insisted today on the need for "a diplomatic solution and process" to end the war, calling for "multilateralism and dialog" as solutions.

"We reiterate our position that the concerns of both nations must be addressed in this diplomatic process," emphasized the head of South African diplomacy, quoted by Lusa.

South Africa, Russia and China are part of the BRICS group of emerging economies, a bloc that also includes Brazil and India and whose rotating presidency is held this year by Pretoria.

The military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 by Russia in Ukraine has so far caused more than 14 million people to flee - 6.5 million internally displaced and more than 7.9 million to European countries - according to the latest UN figures, which classify this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).

At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and housing.

The Russian invasion - justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin by the need to "denazify" and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia's security - has been condemned by the international community in general, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.

Since the beginning of the war, the UN has confirmed that 7,031 civilians have been killed and 11,327 wounded, stressing that these figures are far lower than the real ones.