Russian President Putin will not attend the BRICS summit amid an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will not attend the BRICS nations summit in South Africa next month, said on Saturday that he did not that the visit would be “more important than him staying in Russia”. He added that while he will take part in the summit via video link, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to South Africa.
On July 19, the South African authorities had informed of Putin not attending the Summit in August.
“By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the summit” Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa, said in a statement.
Putin likely to be arrested?
According to reports, while Putin was formally invited to the BRICS summit due to take place in Johannesburg between August 22 and 24, Pretoria has been under heavy domestic and international pressure not to host him. This comes amid a controversy over an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) – which is accusing him of being responsible for the war crimes committed in Ukraine and on suspicion of “unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of people from the territory of Ukraine to the Russian Federation”.