MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia would take part at the “proper level” in a planned summit in South Africa of the BRICS nations, responding to a question on whether President Vladimir Putin would attend the gathering.
South Africa, a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), would theoretically be required to arrest Putin under a warrant issued by the court for his arrest for alleged war crimes.
However it has invited Putin to the Aug. 22-24 summit of the BRICS grouping of emerging economies, which comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
“Russia attaches enormous importance to the development of this format of integration. And Russia will take part in this summit at the proper level,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a regular news briefing.
Pressed on the possibility of the warrant being implemented by South Africa, Peskov said: “Of course we count as a bare minimum on partner countries in such an important format not being guided by such illegal decisions.”
Peskov said further details on the issue would be announced later, without elaborating.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant in March for Putin, accusing him of the war crime of forcibly deporting children from Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. Moscow denies committing war crimes including forced deportations of children, and says the ICC has no authority as Russia is not a member.
Putin, only the third serving president to have been issued an arrest warrant by the ICC, is unlikely to end up in court any time soon. But the warrant means that he could be arrested and sent to The Hague if he travels to any ICC member states.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Gareth Jones)
