Russian President Vladimir Putin can attend the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) economic summit in South Africa in August and not be detained, despite the fact that an international warrant is issued in the name of the Russian President of arrest. This final decision was announced by the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mminister in the President’s Office Khumbudzo Ntshavheni justified this position by saying that South Africa “does not intend to risk war” with Russia.
“The Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia (Dmitri Medvedev) has indicated that any detention of President Putin would be tantamount to a declaration of war,” Ntshavheni said. “I don’t think our country wants to declare war on Russia,” she added.
South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandorová recently announced that South Africa has already sent invitations to the said summit to all leading representatives of member countries, including Putin, and that the final decision on how to deal with the arrest warrant of the International Criminal. The court (ICC) against the head of the Kremlin will belong to President Ramaphosa.
Moscow does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC
The Republic of South Africa is one of the 120 signatory states of the ICC, which is obliged to detain Putin upon entering their territory. In March of this year, the court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president and his deputy Maria Lvovova-Belova in connection with the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children from the occupied territories in Russia. Moscow denies the allegations.
Moscow has not yet said whether Putin will personally come to South Africa. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently said that Russia will be “properly represented” at the BRICS summit and that Moscow does not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction.
Also, according to the previous statement of the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, the ICC decision does not make sense and any arrest warrant is legally invalid. Putin has yet to visit any country under the jurisdiction of the ICC since the start of Russian aggression in Ukraine last February.
