Will it be business as usual when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday pays his first visit to South Africa since his country invaded Ukraine almost a year ago?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will arrive in Pretoria on Monday while Russia's military is raining missiles and other munitions on Ukrainian cities, apparently targeting civilians and certainly targeting civilian infrastructure such as power stations, in an apparent attempt to destroy the country's morale.

These attacks may constitute war crimes, many observers say. But the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) on Tuesday merely said that the minister of international relations and cooperation, Naledi Pandor, would host Lavrov "for bilateral talks".

Earlier, when asked by Russian television whether South Africa would attend the upcoming Russia-Africa Summit in St Petersburg, Pandor did not hesitate, saying: "When we are invited through the African Union, we do tend to attend all summits that involve our African leaders.

"And Russia being such a friend of South Africa, I can't imagine that we wouldn't participate. So this second summit will be an important meeting that South Africa should play a role in."

Business as usual

So it seems to be business as usual between...