The authorities of the Republic of South Africa (South Africa) asked Russia that its delegation at the BRICS in August was headed not by Vladimir Putin, but by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. South African Vice President Paul Machatile told local newspaper Mail & Guardian that Russia rejected this request.
He added that «negotiations with Putin continue», and in South Africa «will be happy if he [Putin] does not come.»
“We understand that we are bound by the Rome Statute, but we cannot invite someone and then arrest him,” Bloomberg quotes Mashatila as saying.
In addition, the Vice President of South Africa said that his country proposed to move the BRICS summit to China, but this idea was not supported by India and Brazil.
In mid-March, the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin. He and Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova are accused of deporting children from the occupied Ukrainian territories to Russia.
South Africa recognizes the jurisdiction of the ICC, in this regard, Pretoria, according to the Sunday Times, asked the Russian president to take part in the August BRICS summit, which will be held in the South African city of Durban, via video link.
Putin has already attended the unification summit in South Africa ten years ago. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, BRICS participants have not met in person.