Cape Town – Government says it consulted with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Brics nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa) before deciding that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not physically attend the Brics summit.
The Presidency announced on Wednesday that Putin will not attend a Brics nations summit in South Africa next month, ending months of speculation.
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 spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa, said in a statement.
The decision followed “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.
Despite these circumstances, the South African government maintains that it fulfills its international obligations and respects the treaties it has signed, including its status as a signatory to the Rome Statute, which governs the ICC.
“We fulfil our international obligations fully and respect our international obligations, in terms of the treaties that we have signed,” EWN quoted Professor Anil Sooklal – the Ambassador at Large: Asia and Brics, at the Department of International Relations as saying.
He added: “…We are a full treaty to the Rome Statute, and we respect those provisions, and that is why we were at pains to find a solution to the dilemma that South Africa found itself in.”
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
Additional reporting by AFP
