Putin Won’t Attend BRICS Summit Says South African President

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the Summit of the BRICS group of Nations in South Africa in August says South African President.

The announcement comes after South Africa’s leader said any attempt to arrest Vladimir Putin would be a declaration of war against Russia.

South Africa faces a dilemma in hosting the Summit because, as a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March for alleged war crimes linked to the war in Ukraine, it would be theoretically required to arrest him if he were to attend.

The Summit will instead be attended by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, alongside the leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Africa. In a statement, the South African President said the decision was reached “by mutual agreement” between the two countries.

BRICS, a bloc of emerging economic powers comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China was formed in 2019 as BRIC. South Africa joined the following year after an invitation from China, expanding the group.