'Don’t read British newspapers...': Lavrov dismisses reports about BRICS summit being moved

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has dismissed media reports claiming that South Africa was considering to shift the BRICS summit venue to another country amid an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

Lavrov said he does not read British newspapers - seemingly the origin of the story claiming the relocation of the BRICS summit.

"As far as I understand, such news could have been published only in some yellow British newspaper, and I don’t read British newspapers," said Lavrov during apress conference on the outcome of the meeting of BRICS Foreign Ministers.

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Meanwhile, Russian DeputyForeign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said such reports should not be trusted and that they were part of a deliberate misinformation campaign.

Unnamed sources for the claims

Notably, a Bloomberg report titled 'Putin arrest warrant prompts South Africa to weigh moving BRICS summit', citing unnamed sources made the claim.

"The government is considering asking China to host the meeting of heads of state, or alternatively neighbouring Mozambique, the people said, asking not to be identified because discussions about the matter are private and no decision has been taken yet," read the report.

Putin is wanted by the ICC for war crimes in relation to the Ukrainian invasion. With the BRICS summit taking place in South Africa and the country being a member of ICC, the Western world is pressuring Pretoria to arrest Putin once he lands in the country.

'South Africa will not arrest Putin'

However, the African nation has granted immunity to all participants, including Putin, and other Russian officials, at BRICS-related events to be held in the country. These United Nations Convention grants immunity from personal arrest or detention.

“This is a standard conferment of immunities that we do for all international conferences and summits held in South Africa irrespective of the level of participation,” the Department of International Relations and Cooperations said in a statement.

International Court warrant against Putin; South Africa due to host BRICS summit

Meanwhile, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that Russia will participate in the BRICS summit at an “appropriate level”.

"Russia will take part in this summit at a proper level," he said, while responding to a question about whether Putin will participate in the summit in South Africa, the state-run Tass news agency reported.

"Russia attributes great importance to the development of this integration format," the Kremlin spokesman added.

The meeting of BRICS Foreign Ministers is taking place in Cape Town on June 1-2, and the association’s summit is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, between August 22 and 24.

(With inputs from agencies)

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