MOSCOW, Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend a Brics nations summit in South Africa next month, the country's presidency said on Wednesday, ending months of speculation he could be detained.
Putin's potential visit has
been a thorny diplomatic issue for Pretoria.
The Russian leader is the
target of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant -- a provision that
South Africa as an ICC member would be expected to implement were he to set
foot in the country.
"By mutual agreement,
President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the
summit," Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa, said
in a statement.
"Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov will instead represent Russia," Magwenya said.
"The decision follows a
number of consultations held by Ramaphosa in recent months, the most recent
of which took place last night," he added.
South Africa is the current
chair of the Brics group, a gathering of heavyweights that also includes
Brazil, Russia, India and China, and which sees itself as a counterweight to
Western economic domination.
ALSO READ: "Arresting Putin in South Africa is a war" - President Ramaphosa
Putin was formally invited to
a Brics summit due to take place in Johannesburg between August 22 and 24,
but Pretoria has been under heavy domestic and international pressure not to
host him.
"The other countries'
leaders will all be in attendance," Magwenya said.
"President Ramaphosa is
confident that the Summit will be a success and calls on the nation to extend
the necessary hospitality to the many delegates who will arrive from various
parts of the continent and the globe," he said.
Putin is sought by the ICC
over accusations that Russia unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.
In court papers released on
Tuesday, Ramaphosa wrote that arresting him would have amounted to a
declaration of war on Russia.
The assessment was given in an
affidavit responding to an application by the country's leading opposition
party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), which aimed at forcing the government's
hand and ensuring the Kremlin leader was handed over to the ICC if he were to
arrive.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry
Peskov was asked if the war wording was used in talks between the two nations.
"No, it did not sound
that way," he said.
"In this world, it is
absolutely clear to everyone what an attempt to encroach on the head of the
Russian state would mean.
"That is why there is no
need to explain anything to anyone on this," Peskov added.
The affidavit revealed South
Africa was seeking an exemption under ICC rules, arguing that enacting the
arrest could have threatened the "security, peace and order of the
state".
Pretoria has long said it
wants to stay neutral over the war in Ukraine but has been accused by critics
of tilting towards Moscow.
Some feared hosting Putin
could have been read as a signal of support for Russia and jeopardised South
Africa's strong economic and trade relations with the United States and Europe.
Trade with Russia is much
smaller, but their ties date back decades to when the Kremlin supported the
ruling African National Congress party during the struggle against apartheid.
In recent local media
interviews, South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile said the government
had been trying to persuade Putin not to come.
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