Cape Town – South African Communist Party (SACP) secretary-general Solly Mapaila has defended Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision not to attend the Brics summit in South Africa, saying it was not an act of “cowardice”.
According to Times Live, Mapaila believed that Putin has shown statesmanship in the face of Western provocations.
“While one decries the decision by President Putin not to come, we also appreciate his consideration. It was not an act of cowardice. We do know that they are not even on the same level as those European countries. Russia can finish them off but we don’t want a nuclear war despite their provocations,” the report quoted Mapaila as saying on the sidelines of the Brics Political Parties Plus dialogue in Boksburg on Wednesday.
This was after the Presidency announced that Putin will not attend a Brics nations summit in South Africa next month, ending months of speculation.
Putin’s potential visit had been a thorny diplomatic issue for South Africa.
Mapaila said South Africa did not have the capacity to arrest Putin, the report said.
“It’s not a question of semantics, Russia is a big world country. Who can touch such a country? From a military, intellectual and scientific development, they are at the same level as the US. The US, of course, is ganging up with its European partners to weaken Russia so that at a point when Russia is extremely weak, they can come in.
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“Do you think that we can just go blindly to declare war on Russia? It’s crazy. (We don’t) have a single military capacity, just from a perspective of defence, let’s be serious.”
The Russian leader is the target of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant – a provision that Pretoria as an ICC member would be expected to implement were he to set foot in the country.
“By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the summit, but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister Mr (Sergei) Lavrov,” Vincent Magwenya, a spokesperson for President Cyril Ramaphosa, said in a statement.
The decision follows “a number of consultations” held by Ramaphosa in recent months, the most recent of which took place “last night”, Magwenya said.
South Africa is the current chair of the Brics group, a gathering of heavyweights that also includes Brazil, Russia, India and China, which sees itself as a counterweight to Western economic domination.
Putin was formally invited to Brics summit due to take place in Johannesburg between August 22 and 24, but Pretoria has been under heavy domestic and international pressure not to host him.
“President Ramaphosa is confident that the summit will be a success and calls on the nation to extend the necessary hospitality to the many delegates who will arrive from various parts of the continent and the globe,” Magwenya said.
Putin is sought by the ICC over accusations that Russia unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
