Russian president Putin will not attend BRICS Summit, says South African presidency
Pretoria, South Africa (PANA) - The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, will not attend the forthcoming 15th Summit of BRICS nations to be hosted by South Africa next month, the South African presidency announced on Wednesday.
"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," a statement by the South African presidency said.
BRICS is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The statement said the summit would be attended by the leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Africa from 22-24 August, the first BRICS Summit to be hosted in person since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent global restrictions.
The presence of President Putin at the summit in South Africa had been thrown into doubt after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants last March of arrest for President Vladimir Putin and Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belov, the Russian children’s rights commissioner.
The Hague-based court issued arrest warrants for the two for allegedly overseeing the abduction of Ukrainian children.
The ICC said that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe President Putin and Lvova-Belova bore responsibility for the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children.
There have been calls for the arrest of President Putin should he come to South Africa.
Russia is not a party to the ICC and has described the move as "meaningless".
Russia has denied accusations that its forces have committed atrocities since its invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
Russia has warned that the arrest of President Putin would be a declaration of war.
South Africa's biggest opposition party, Democratic Alliance, had asked the courts to force the government to arrest President Putin if he arrived in the country.
In reply, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was concerned by “nuclear war talk” from a top aide to President Putin, which is why he refused to commit to complying with an international treaty to arrest Putin should he arrive in South Africa for the summit.
In March, Russia's former President Dimitry Medvedev said his country would unleash its “assets and missiles" on any country that arrested Putin.
"It would be a declaration of war on the Russian Federation," Medvedev warned.
Meanwhile, the statement said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had confirmed his country's readiness to host the summit.
It said President Ramaphosa had in recent months and weeks held a number of consultations on the hosting of the Summit, the most recent consultation taking place on Tuesday night at the BRICS Political Party Dialogue in Gauteng, South Africa.
"In due course, a comprehensive statement on the substantive issues to be covered at the Summit and other related foreign policy matters will be issued."
The statement said President Ramaphosa was confident that "the Summit will be a success" and called on the South Africans to extend the necessary hospitality to the many delegates who would arrive from various parts of the continent and the globe.
-0- PANA MA 19July2023
