South Africa is ready to host a physical BRICS summit in August despite an arrest warrant issued against one of group’s members – Russian President Vladimir Putin – for allegedly committing war crimes in Ukraine, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday.
Ramaphosa did not say whether or not the Russian leader would attend the BRICS summit, which would bring together the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
“We are going to have a physical BRICS summit. All of us are committed to having a summit where we will be able to eyeball each other,” the president said in response to a question on the sidelines of an African National Congress meeting in Johannesburg.
He added: “We have not held a physical summit for almost three years. It’s not going to be virtual.”
The last few summits have been held virtually due to travel restrictions imposed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March this year for allegedly deporting 30,000 children from Ukraine to Russia during the current Russia-Ukrainian war.
South Africa would be expected to arrest Putin if he set foot in the country in response to the arrest warrant due to the country being a signatory to the Rome Treaty which established the court.
Pretoria, which has been close to Moscow since the anti-apartheid struggle years, would find it a problem to execute the arrest warrant should Putin land in Pretoria, according to observers.
South Africa has not condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying it was impartial and preferred dialogue to end the war.
Last month Ramaphosa led fellow African leaders to Ukraine and Russian to present a peace proposal to both parties to halt the hostilities.
