The news was released despite efforts by South Africa, the venue for the event, for the Russian president to attend. The International Criminal Court accuses Vladimir Putin of deporting Ukrainian children to Russian territory, which is considered a war crime. Amid the controversy, the leaders of China, India and Brazil will participate in the meeting.
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An expected outcome since the summit meeting of the group of nations of emerging economies, known as BRICS, was announced. When it became known that the meeting would take place outside the Russian borders, in South Africa, a question was raised in the international media: will President Vladimir Putin attend?
The mystery was resolved with the announcement of the presidency of the African country. “By mutual agreement”, the Russian president will not attend, he will be represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov. A short statement, similar to the one made by the Kremlin spokesmanDmitry Peskov.
More than a satisfaction, the granting of the headquarters represented a headache for the South African leadership. As a member nation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), it must abide by the arrest warrant for Putin by the legal entity. He points to the Russian head of state for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to his territory.
Despite being considered a war crime, the Russian leadership does not hide the infant transfer program and presents it as a project to protect minors from combat and reintegrate them into society. Moscow also does not recognize the ICC ruling; Russia does not belong to the high court, so the resolution is not binding on them.
“Obvious problems”
The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, in an attempt to mediate to lead the summit in peace, this week asked the ICC for an exemption so as not to arrest Vladimir Putin on his territory. According to the African dignitary, a process had been initiated according to the article 97 of the court. This allows raising “problems that may hinder or prevent” compliance with a sentence.
“South Africa has obvious problems executing a request for the arrest and surrender of President Putin,” he was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency. “Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting president would be a declaration of war,” he concluded.
Although this last statement was flatly rejected by the Kremlin press officer with a “no, that has not been said. No one has been given to understand anything”, South African fears are based on the affirmations of the former Russian president and current vice president of the Security Council, Dmitri Medvedev, who considered that the arrest of his boss, in the framework of a visit to any nation, would mean a hostile act against Russia.
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A head of state cannot just be arrested anywhere. All we want between Ukraine and Russia is peace, that is what is important so that the world can thrive.
—African National Congress (@MYANC) May 23, 2023
However, it can represent more than just an excuse. Russia is an important ally of the African National Congress (ANC), the party founded by Nelson Mandela and which currently represents the political party in South Africa’s power. The ANC secretary general had already declared his disagreement with the ICC measure against Putin.
The confirmed leaders
Even Reuters mentioned an alleged transfer of the summit to China, which, like the Russians, is also not part of the ICC. Despite this, Ramaphosa keeps his word to host the BRICS assembly.
The South African presidency ratified “South Africa’s willingness to host the historic fifteenth summit of the BRICS countries.”
“President Ramaphosa is confident that the Summit will be a success and calls on the nation to provide the necessary hospitality to the many delegates who will arrive from various parts of the continent and the world,” he added. the published note on the executive website.
For their part, the confirmation of the presidents and/or heads of government of China, Xi Jinpingfrom Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra ModiThe first meeting of the integrating body since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic will not tarnish. Everyone, in their own way, has criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, they maintain strategic relations with Moscow.
Abbreviations BRICS, made up of the first letter of the member nations, make up the group of nations with emerging economies. It was initially founded by Brazil, Russia, India and China in 2006. Almost five years later, South Africa joined, adding the letter S to the name of the group.
With Reuters and EFE
