The Presidency has confirmed reports by the Kremlin press service that Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Cyril Ramaphosa had a telephonic conversation on Wednesday to discuss food security.

Ramaphosa's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told News24 on Friday morning that the call took place and that the two leaders held a discussion on issues of trade and investment.

"Yes, the conversation took place in the context of the upcoming BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit. The two leaders discussed trade and investment between their respective countries," said Magwenya.

According to a Kremlin press release, the telephonic conversation between the two leaders centred around supplies of agricultural products and fertilisers to Africa after Russia's invasion of Ukraine scrambled global markets.

"Issues of food security, including supplies of Russian agricultural products and fertilisers to the African continent, in particular to South Africa, were discussed in detail," the statement read.

The presidents "also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine," it added.

"The importance of joint work within the framework of the BRICS group in order to further strengthen the role of this association in world politics and the economy was noted," the statement read.

The Kremlin said Ramaphosa had initiated the call and that the two leaders had agreed to maintain contact.

On Thursday, the Russian News Agency reported that Russia was cooperating with its partners in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and BRICS nations in the green energy area.

This was according to Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin, who was reported to have made the revelation at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday.

"As far as international cooperation is concerned, the climate agenda is relevant in the EAEU. This is a strong integration, containing 180-million people and five integrated economies, with observers and partners.

"It is developing in the same directions that are on the international agenda, from project cooperation, own energy to various areas of services, banking, insurance, investment with the prefix 'green'," he said.

BRICS nations were actively discussing this topic, and "a platform allowing both the research and project work in the future on renewable energy and hydrogen energy is being created," Pankin was quoted as saying.

Earlier this week, during a debate by members of the National Assembly on rising fuel prices, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe suggested that South Africa should look no further than Russia to source cheap crude oil despite mounting international sanctions being imposed on the country for its invasion of Ukraine.

"We should consider importing crude oil from Russia at a low price because it is not sanctioned. Of all the sanctions, there are no sanctions against crude oil, so we can import crude oil from Russia at a lower price," Mantashe said.

Mantashe said that the country should also look at other solutions like gas and oil exploration.