Putin will not go to the BRICS summit in South Africa to avoid the international arrest warrant

The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosahas confirmed this Wednesday that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putinwill not attend the summit of the group of emerging economies BRICS next Augustafter months of controversy for the international arrest warrant that weighs on the Russian president.

“By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the summit, but the country will be represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov”said the South African Presidency in a statement collected by the Efe agency.

South Africa, which will host the BRICS summit between August 22 and 24 in Johannesburg, was in the spotlight after confirming last March his invitation to the Russian president to participate in the meetings, despite the arrest warrant issued by the international criminal court (ICC) against him for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

[Putin no podrá viajar ni sobrevolar 123 países tras la orden de arresto de la Corte Penal Internacional]

As a member state of the ICC, South Africa is obliged to cooperate in Putin’s arrest, but the country had so far avoided disclosing how would he proceed if the Russian president landed in his territory.

However, Ramaphosa refused to arrest his Russian counterpart because it would be like a “War declaration” against Russia, as reported on Tuesday by the Gauteng High Court (north), which published a statement by the president.

“It would be contrary to our Constitution to risk going to war with Russia,” Ramaphosa said in responding to a lawsuit filed by South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (AD), seeking a “declaratory order” guaranteeing the Putin’s arrest, according to Efe.

South Africa ensures have taken a neutral stance on Russia’s war 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 anti-colonial and anti-colonial movements. 20th century liberationsuch as the fight against the apartheid segregationist regime. Brazil, Russia, India and China created the BRICS group in 2006, which was joined by South Africa in 2010, which added the letter to the acronym