The South African president announced on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be attending the BRICS conference in South Africa in August.
Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, together with the presidents of Brazil, India, China, and South Africa, will instead be present at the summit. The South African presidency claimed in a statement that the decision was made “by mutual agreement” between the two nations.
Putin’s potential attendance at the summit has put South Africa in a difficult diplomatic situation. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest order for the Russian President for potential war crimes related to the conflict in Ukraine.
If Putin showed up in person at the summit, South Africa would be required to detain him as an ICC member.
According to a local court filing made public on Tuesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa requested the ICC’s approval not to detain Putin on Tuesday. Putin’s arrest, according to Ramaphosa, would be equivalent to declaring war.
In response, the Kremlin claimed on Wednesday that it had not informed South Africa that detaining Putin in accordance with an ICC arrest warrant would result in “war.”
Despite claiming to be neutral and in support of dialogue, South Africa has declined to denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, the nation has come under fire from Western nations for its tight ties to Moscow.
