The Kremlin Moscow/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the BRICS summit in South Africa in August. This is a serious blow to the Kremlin, which wants to strengthen ties with key allies in the face of the war in Ukraine.
CNN –
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend In His South African counterpart confirmed on Wednesday that he attended the end of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, ending months of speculation sparked by an arrest warrant for the Kremlin leader over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said Putin would not attend the conference “by mutual agreement,” adding that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would visit instead.
Russian state media RIA Novosti later reported that Putin would dial in via video link. The leaders of the other members of the BRICS economic bloc, Brazil, India and China, are still expected to attend in person.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova in March over alleged plans to deport Ukrainian children to Russia in the wake of the brutal invasion.
In the months that followed, South African lawmakers made conflicting statements about the country’s obligation to arrest Putin if he attended the summit. As a signatory to the Rome Statute, the Hague Court Treaty, South Africa is forced to arrest people indicted by the ICC.
The Ramaphosa government’s move severely weakens Moscow’s attempts to restore solidarity with key allies as the country has become increasingly isolated since the start of its all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Western diplomats have criticized South African lawmakers for their perceived solidarity with Russia since the beginning of this conflict.
South African government officials have long claimed they are a neutral party but have refused to condemn Russia in votes in the United Nations General Assembly.
Earlier this year, South Africa hosted Chinese and Russian navies war games and was accused by the US ambassador of loading weapons onto a sanctioned Russian ship in December. Cape Town has denied any wrongdoing.
Wednesday’s announcement followed revelations in a confidential affidavit by Ramaphosa, the release of which was ordered by a Supreme Court judge in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The affidavit was in response to legal action by an opposition party to force Putin’s arrest.
“For the sake of transparency, I must stress that South Africa has apparent problems with executing a request for the arrest and extradition of President Putin,” Ramaphosa said, according to the court document.
“Russia has made it clear that arresting its incumbent president would be tantamount to a declaration of war. It would be contrary to our constitution to risk starting a war with Russia,” Ramaphosa continued.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later dismissed Ramaphosa’s claims, saying: “No, [such warnings] were not transmitted.”
Peskov added that it was “perfectly clear what an assault on the Russian head of state would mean, so there’s no need to explain anything here to anyone.”
In 2015, South African authorities failed to arrest then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was accused by the ICC of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the genocide in Darfur, during a visit to the country.