Amid many questions, revolving around the possibility of South Africa implementing the International Criminal Court’s warrant to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin, if he decides to attend the BRICS summit in Johannesburg scheduled for next August, against the backdrop of allegations of Putin committing war crimes, the South African Vice President said, in Press statements, that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to attend personally to participate in the BRICS summit in the African country, and he is trying to persuade him to be absent to avoid the legal and diplomatic repercussions regarding his international arrest warrant.
In turn, a spokesman for the South African Vice President, Paul Machatelli, explained that President Ramaphosa is speaking with President Putin directly about the issue of the International Criminal Court, adding: “We want to inform him of the challenges we face because we are a party to the Rome Statute (of the International Criminal Court), not We can give it up.” For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that discussions about the formula for Putin’s participation in the upcoming BRICS summit are still continuing, indicating that the formula for his participation has not yet been finally determined, and the discussions are ongoing, and the final decision will be announced after it is taken.
Observers expect that the South African authorities will violate the treaty and refuse to arrest Russian President Putin, stressing that his attendance at the summit will lead to tension between South Africa and the West. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa denied that the summit would be held online, stressing that it would be face-to-face and that all heads of the five member states of the organization would participate.
South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said she was examining legal options on the issue of Putin’s arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, in connection with accusations of war crimes, if he attends the planned Johannesburg summit.
“The answer is that the President (Cyril Ramaphosa) will clarify South Africa’s final position,” Pandor said. In fact, an invitation was extended to all BRICS heads of state.
Moscow denies the International Criminal Court’s allegations that Putin committed a war crime by forcibly deporting children from Ukrainian territory. South Africa will host the fifteenth BRICS summit at the Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg, between August 22 and 24, with the participation of the leaders of South Africa, Brazil, China, India and Russia.
