War crime allegations send Vladimir Putin running from BRICS summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to skip the upcoming BRICS summit in Johannesburg next month, according to an announcement made by the South African presidency on Wednesday, July 19.

The news comes on the heels of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa‘s warning that an arrest of Vladimir Putin, who is currently under an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, could be seen as an act of war.

The South African government disclosed that the decision for Vladimir Putin not to attend the summit was reached by mutual agreement between Russia and South Africa. Instead, Russia will be represented at the summit by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Earlier this year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin, accusing him of war crimes following allegations of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia. As a member state of the ICC, South Africa is legally bound to arrest Putin if he enters its territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin to skip BRICS summit amid international arrest warrant controversy. Photo courtesy of Дмитрий Осипенко from Pixabay.

Russia, not being a member of the ICC, has dismissed the warrant as ‘outrageous’ and legally void. In a recent press conference, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed claims that Russia threatened war in response to any attempts to arrest Putin. He clarified that no explicit warning about the possibility of war was given by Moscow if Putin were to be arrested.

The developments unfold in the midst of a diplomatic dilemma that has occupied the South African government for months, particularly after opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), sought to force the government to arrest Putin and hand him over to the ICC. However, Ramaphosa has labelled the DA’s application as ‘irresponsible’, indicating that Russia has made clear that arresting its sitting President would be viewed as a declaration of war.

As per the latest updates, the upcoming BRICS summit, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, will be attended by the leaders of the remaining four countries. This will be the first in-person BRICS summit since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, scheduled to take place in Johannesburg between August 22-24.