The Russian president will not go to the BRICS meeting in August, the South African government has reported. It would be to avoid the international arrest warrant.
The president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, confirmed on Wednesday that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putinwill not attend the summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies in August, after months of controversy and speculation over the international arrest warrant that weighs on the head of the Kremlin for the invasion of Ukraine.
“By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the summit, but the country will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov,” the South African Presidency said in a statement.
The decision followed numerous “consultations” by Ramaphosa in recent months, the latest of which was “last night” (Tuesday night), said Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for President Ramaphosa.
The decision means that South Africa will not have to face the dilemma of whether to execute the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against the Russian president.
South Africa currently holds the presidency of the BRICS, the group of five great emerging powers (South Africa, Brazil, China, India and Russia).
Putin was officially invited to the group’s heads of state summit scheduled for August 22-24 in Johannesburg, but the South African government has suffered a strong internal and external pressure not to receive the Russian president.
As a member state of the International Criminal Court (ICC), South Africa is forced to cooperate in the arrest of Putin, But the country had so far avoided revealing how it would proceed if Russia landed on its territory.
The ad ends months of speculation about whether Putin was going to travel to South Africa. The Russian leader has not traveled to any signatory country to the Court’s treaty since he was accused of war crimes for the kidnapping of children in Ukraine.
“War declaration”
Ramaphosa refused to arrest his Russian counterpart because it would be like a “declaration of war” against Russia, as reported on Tuesday by the High Court of Gauteng (north), which published a statement by the president.
“It would be contrary to our Constitution to risk going to war with Russia,” the South African president said in responding to a lawsuit filed by the country’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (AD), seeking a “declaratory order ” to ensure Putin’s arrest.
South Africa claims to have adopted a neutral stance on war of Russia against Ukraine, and has called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the conflict.
This position is not only linked to the strategic, political and economic role that Moscow has in some African countries, but also to historical reasons, such as Russian support for the anti-colonial and liberation movements of the 20th century, such as the fight against the segregationist regime. of “apartheid”.
Source: agencies
BC
