South Africa confirmed on Sunday that it will host the next BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in August, to which Vladimir Putin has been invited. As a member of the International Criminal Court, South Africa should theoretically detain the Russian president, against whom the High Court issued an arrest warrant, should he enter its territory. A delicate position for Pretoria, which intends to adopt a neutral stance.
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Dilemma for Pretoria. South Africa will effectively organize the next BRICS summit in August, to which Vladimir Putin has been invited, despite the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the Russian head of state, its president confirmed on Sunday 9 of July.
“We are advancing in the organization of the BRICS summit and finalizing the discussions on the format,” Cyril Ramaphosa told the press, adding that this meeting, which in principle brings together South Africa, Brazil, China, India and Russia, would take place “physically”.
He did not specify whether Vladimir Putin, who has had an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court since March for the war crime of “deporting” Ukrainian children since the invasion of Ukraine, would attend the summit, accusations that Moscow flatly rejects.
South Africa currently holds the presidency of the BRICS, a group of five great emerging powers that aspire to increase their influence in international institutions hitherto dominated by the United States and Europe. Their next summit, their fifteenth, is scheduled for August 22-24 at a Johannesburg convention center.
“We are going to host this BRICS summit physically, we are all committed to holding a summit where we can look each other in the eye,” said Cyril Ramaphosa, questioned on the sidelines of a conference organized by his party, the ANC. “We haven’t held a physical summit for … almost three years. It won’t be virtual,” he insisted.
As a member of the ICC, South Africa should theoretically arrest the Russian president if he enters its territory. A serious diplomatic dilemma for Pretoria, which has refused to condemn Moscow since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Rumors spread by the South African media indicated that Pretoria was considering moving the summit to China to avoid having to arrest Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Putin “guest”
As the continent’s diplomatic power, South Africa claims to adopt a neutral position in order to “play a role in conflict resolution”, as Cyril Ramaphosa had already explained, stating that he had met Vladimir Putin on several occasions. In February, her country also hosted naval exercises with Russia and China off its coast, causing “unease” among major Western powers.
Ties between South Africa and Russia date back to the apartheid era, with the Kremlin supporting the ANC in its fight against the racist regime.
Last month, Cyril Ramaphosa took a delegation of African heads of state (from South Africa, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt and Uganda) for the first time to Ukraine and then to Russia, in an attempt to achieve peace between Kiev and Moscow. The mission did not produce tangible results, but it gave a voice to an African continent that has suffered greatly from the consequences of this conflict, particularly the sharp rise in cereal prices.
The African mediation offer was rejected by kyiv, which does not want to negotiate with Moscow while there are Russian soldiers on its soil, and Moscow, for its part, considered it “very difficult to implement.”
The African peace proposals were summarized in 10 points: “de-escalation by both parties”, “recognition of the sovereignty” of the countries recognized by the UN, “security guarantees” for all parties, removal of barriers to the export of grain by the Black Sea, “release of prisoners of war” and post-war reconstruction.
*With AFP; adapted from its original in French
