Russian President Vladimir Putin Will Not Attend Brics Summit in Johannesburg: Relief for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not travel to South Africa to participate in the Brics summit, the South African authorities say.

Putin was invited to the summit in August, but the Russian president’s presence would have been a real pain in the ass for South Africa.

South Africa is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued an arrest warrant for Putin. The country would therefore have been obliged to arrest him, if he appeared.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has claimed that such an arrest would be perceived as a declaration of war by Russia, and South Africa has therefore urged Putin to stay home.

On Wednesday, the message came that the Russian president will comply with the call, to South Africa’s great relief.

– In common understanding, President Putin will not participate in the summit where Russia will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, says a spokesman for Ramaphosa.

The Brics countries consist of South Africa, Brazil, Russia, India and China. The five countries are considered to be the world’s fastest growing economies and for the past twelve years have worked together to challenge the economic dominance of Western countries in the world.

South Africans abstained when the UN General Assembly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.