Putin potential arrest row: South Africa to go ahead with 'in-person' BRICS summit

The upcoming BRICS summit will be an in-person summit despite an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin from the International Criminal Court.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa clarified on Sunday that next month's BRICS summit, which Vladimir Putin has been invited to, will not be a virtual summit.

"The BRICS summit is going ahead and we are finalising our discussions on the format," Ramaphosa told journalists, adding that it will bea "physical" meeting.

Ramaphosa, however,did not say if Putin, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over accusations that Russia unlawfully deported Ukrainian children, would attend the BRICS summit or not.

"We are going to have a physical BRICS summit, all of us are committed to having a summit where we will be able to eyeball each other," he said in response to a question.

"We have not held a physical summit for...almost three years. It's not going to be virtual," he stressed.

As a member of the ICC, South Africa would be expected to arrest Putin if he sets foot in the country.

BRICS South Africa summit: Accusations against Putin

According to accusations put forth by Ukraine, more than 16,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022. Ukraine has alleged that many of these children have been placed in institutions and foster homes.

Russia has denied these accusations. Since Russia is not a member of the ICC, the country deems the warrant "void".

Earlier, the South African foreign ministry hadannounced that as per its "standard" practice, it will grant immunity to the participants of the BRICS summit.

"These immunities do not override any warrantthat may have been issued by any international tribunal against any attendee of the conference,"Clayson Monyela, spokesperson of South Africa's international relations department said.

South Africa's foreign minister Naledi Pandor had stated earlier that the country was mulling options.

"Our government is currently looking at what the legal options are with respect to this matter and I've indicated ... that it is something the president will be the best person to speak about (this) once it has reached a conclusion," said Pandor while talking to reporters on the sidelines of a BRICS foreign ministers meeting in Cape Town in June 2023.

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The Kremlin has not yet confirmed if the Russian president, who has largely avoided international travel since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, will attend the summit in person.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has, however, clarifiedthat the country would "take part in this summit at the proper level".

(With inputs from agencies)

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