Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, will not be present at the summit, when the leader of BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — will meet in Johannesburg on Tuesday, August 22.
Putin will attend the summit via video call while the others will attend in person.
The reason for Putin to not attend the summit in person is the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, which is issued for him in March indicting him with war offenses over the removal of children from Ukraine.
The warrant for the Russian president placed South Africa, the host of the Summit, in trouble, and in resultant, Putin decided to stay at home and attend the summit via video call.
BRICS leaders traditionally attend its summits, and Chinese President Xi Jinping is making a rare trip overseas to be at the alliance’s first in-person summit since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the ICC indictment on Putin left South Africa with a significant diplomatic problem.
Despite good links with Russia, South Africa is also a signatory to the ICC’s treaty which means if Putin set foot on South African soil, then it would be obliged to arrest the Russian President.
South Africa urge Putin to stay at home for months ahead of the summit so it could avoid trouble, South African officials say.
