Speculations have emerged regarding the possible attendance of Russian President Vladimir Putin at this year’s BRICS summit, due to an outstanding arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The ICC had issued arrest warrants on March 17 for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, a Russian official allegedly involved in forced deportations of Ukrainian children to Russian territory.
As a signatory to the Rome Statute, South Africa is obligated to execute ICC arrest warrants.
However, a recent government notice signed by South African Foreign Minister Grace Naledi and uploaded to the government’s website on May 29 revealed that diplomatic immunity would be granted to participants attending the ministerial meeting from June 1-2 in Cape Town, as well as the official summit meeting featuring heads of state from August 22-24 in Johannesburg.
South Africa’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on May 30, asserting that diplomatic immunity would be granted to all attendees of the upcoming BRICS summit.
The ministry emphasized that this was a standard procedure applicable to the conference as a whole and not specific individuals.
It clarified that these intended diplomatic immunities would not supersede any warrants issued by international tribunals against any summit participant.
The question remains whether Putin will choose to attend the summit in person and potentially face a diplomatic dilemma.
On Tuesday, the Kremlin announced that Russia would participate at the “proper level.”
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is already scheduled to attend the planning meeting.
The BRICS group, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, is increasingly viewed as a rival to the G7 group of western industrialized countries.
