The President of South Africa requested that the Russian delegation to the BRICS summit be headed by Foreign Minister Lavrov instead of Putin but was refused

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa asked Russia to send Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the BRICS summit in August instead of Putin, who was issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for the deportation of Ukrainian children.

South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile said this in an interview with the Mail & Guardian newspaper; his words are quoted by the Bloomberg agency.

Mashatile said Ramaphosa had been rejected. He added that "discussions with Putin" regarding his visit to the summit are still "ongoing."

"We understand that we have obligations under the Rome Statute, but we cannot invite someone and then arrest them. You can understand our dilemma. We will be happy if he does not come,” said Mashatile.

Earlier, Ramaphosa publicly stated that he expects Putin to attend the BRICS summit in August, despite the fact that the country is obliged to arrest him and hand him over to the International Criminal Court.

• On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Presidentʼs Commissioner for Childrenʼs Rights. They are accused of directing the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, which is a war crime. Children were taken out without the permission of relatives out of Ukraine, in Russia, they were granted citizenship. For this purpose, Putin passed a number of decrees that simplified these procedures, and Lvova-Belova carried out his instructions. Together with their parents, up to 150,000 children could be deported to Russia (just over 300 were returned). For the fifth time in its history, the International Court of Justice issues a warrant for the arrest of a sitting president. He can be arrested by a country that has ratified the Rome Statute.
• South Africa is a signatory to the Rome Statute. In view of this, she is forced to arrest Putin. The authorities of South Africa have assured that they will comply with the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. However, it has in the past violated its agreement with the Rome Statute when it did not arrest former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has been charged with genocide and crimes against humanity.
• The media reported that South Africa is considering moving the BRICS summit to China to avoid Putinʼs arrest. On May 30, it became known that the South African Republic announced that it would grant diplomatic immunity to the participants of two meetings during the BRICS summit, but these immunities do not cancel any warrants from international tribunals.