South Africa says Putin will fly to them for summit, Kremlin "still undecided"
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says Vladimir Putin will attend the BRICS summit in August in person; the Kremlin says it has not yet decided.
Source: Eyewitness news, referring to Ramaphosa's statement at the BRICS Business Council meeting in Sandton on 13 July; Kremlin-aligned media TASS, referring to a statement by Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Details: Ramaphosa said that Putin would attend the BRICS summit in South Africa in person, despite the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for him.
At the same time, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the format of Putin's participation in the summit has not yet been determined.
Background:
- On 17 March, the ICC (International Criminal Court) issued an arrest warrant for President Putin and Presidential Commissioner for Children's Affairs Maria Lvova-Belova.
- If they travel to the territory of a country that is a party to the ICC and has ratified the Rome Statute, they must be arrested and brought to court.
- On 25 April, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the ruling party of South Africa had decided to withdraw from the jurisdiction of the ICC.
- South Africa granted diplomatic immunity to all officials invited to the BRICS summit, including Putin.
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