In in weekly newsletter, Mr Ramaphosa said South Africa would not take sides in what he said was "in effect a contest between Russia and the West".

His comments come days after the US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, accused the country of secretly providing arms and ammunition to Russia, despite its professed neutrality.

Mr Brigety said US intelligence was confident they had been loaded onto a Russian ship at a naval base in Cape Town in December.

Mr Ramaphosa has agreed to investigate the claim but says there is no concrete evidence to support the allegations.