Putin will not attend BRICS Summit in South Africa
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not go to the BRICS Summit in South Africa, as per the country’s presidency.
“By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the Summit but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister, Mr Sergey Lavrov,” the statement reads.
The Kremlin has confirmed that Vladimir Putin would take part in the BRICS Summit via video link.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would head the Russian delegation at the summit in South Africa.
“President Putin has made a decision to participate in the BRICS Summit via video link. His will be full participation. Minister Lavrov will be present at the meeting in person,” Peskov explained.
On Tuesday, it was reported that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had been negotiating with the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the issue of arresting Putin, invited to South Africa for the BRICS Summit in August.
Ramaphosa was against arresting Putin, seeing as, according to him, that would compromise the security of the South African Republic. “It would be inconsistent with our Constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia. I have constitutional obligations to protect the national sovereignty, peace and security of the republic, and to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of the people of the republic to life, safety and security, among other rights in the Bill of Rights,” the president said in his affidavit to the High Court in Gauteng.
On 17 March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin, who is accused of unlawful deportation of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. South Africa is a signatory to the Rome Statute, thus it is obliged to comply with the ICC decisions.
Starting from March, the South African government tried to find ways not to arrest Putin and still remain a signatory to the Rome Statute. In particular, Reuters reported, citing sources, that the summit could be moved to China; the country’s Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance Obed Bapela said that the government was planning to pass legislation that would let the South African authorities decide whether they need to arrest the leaders wanted by the ICC. In early May, The Sunday Times reported that Pretoria asked Putin not to travel to South Africa to attend the BRICS summit. According to the newspaper, the government asked the Russian leader to participate via Zoom.
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