The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, confirmed on Sunday (September 7th, 2023) that the summit of the BRICS countries in August will take place “in person” despite the arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit “is moving forward and we are finalizing discussions on the format,” Ramaphosa told reporters, adding that it will be an “in-person” meeting.
He did not specify whether or not Putin, for whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant on suspicion that Russia illegally deported Ukrainian minors, will be present.
“We will hold a personal BRICS summit. We’re all striving to have a summit where we can look at each other,” he said in response to a question.
“We haven’t held an in-person summit in … at least three years. It won’t be virtual,” he said.
South Africa is a member of the International Criminal Court, but is not expected to arrest Putin if he enters its territory.
Rumors spread in local media that the South African government was considering moving the summit to China to avoid being put in a position to arrest Putin.
South Africa has had close ties with Russia since the apartheid era, when the Kremlin supported Nelson Mandela and his party in fighting the racist regime.
The country refused to condemn the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, saying it wanted to remain neutral and preferred dialogue to end the war.
gs (afp, City Press)
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