The 15th BRICS summit will be held in South Africa next month. Russian President Putin will not attend the event. The. Africa has confirmed this. According to reports, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will represent the Russian Federation instead of Putin at the summit in Johannesburg.
The BRICS summit will be the first to be held in person after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent global restrictions. But it has now been decided that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be a part of the historic summit of BRICS countries.
The African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced South Africa’s readiness to host the historic 15th summit of the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Leaders from Brazil, India, China and South Africa will participate in the summit.
It was claimed in many media reports that Putin may be arrested during the meeting of BRICS countries on 22-24 August. South Africa’s largest opposition party, ‘The Democratic Alliance’, pressured the government to arrest Putin during his visit to Johannesburg.
However, the President of South Africa said that any attempt to arrest Vladimir Putin during his visit to South Africa would be a declaration of war against Russia. The President has responded to this opposition demand through an affidavit in the court of Pretoria.
There will be a hearing on this matter on Friday. In this 32-page affidavit, the President said that arresting Putin would be like declaring war against Russia. Ramaphosa called it a national security threat to the country. A few months ago, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Putin for waging war in Ukraine.
ICC says there is enough evidence to charge Putin with war crimes in Ukraine. If Putin leaves the country, he can be arrested. That’s why it is being claimed in many media reports that Putin may be arrested during his visit to Johannesburg. The strong demand of the opposition in South Africa only added fuel to the fire.
