Russian foreign minister to replace Putin at Brics summit

Russian president Vladimir Putin will not be attending the BRICS summit in SA next month.

The Presidency announced in a statement on Wednesday that “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 Sergey Lavrov”. 

The summit will be attended by the leaders of Brazil, India, China and SA. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin after it accused him of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia, which is a war crime.

This meant, SA, as an ICC member, was obliged to arrest him if he attended the summit .

In May, the DA approached the Johannesburg high court for an order compelling the state to detain and surrender Putin to the ICC when he arrived in the country.

“President [Cyril] 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,” the statement read. 

• chabalalaj@sowetan.co.za