Putin will attend BRICS summit via video conference, says Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate by videoconference in the summit of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) after deciding not to travel to South Africa because of the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Kremlin said Wednesday. 

"President Putin has decided to participate in the BRICS summit via video conference. It will be a full-fledged participation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The Russian presidential press secretary confirmed that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will personally represent Russia at the summit, as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had announced on Wednesday. 

"By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the summit, but the country will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov," the South African presidency said in a statement. 

South Africa, which will host the BRICS summit on 22-24 August in Johannesburg, was in the spotlight after confirming last March its invitation to the Russian president to attend the meetings, despite the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against him for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. 

As a member state of the ICC, South Africa is obliged to cooperate in Putin's arrest, but the country had so far avoided disclosing how it would proceed if the Russian president landed on its territory. 

However, Ramaphosa refused to arrest his Russian counterpart because it would be a "declaration of war" against Russia, the Gauteng High Court reported on Tuesday, publishing a statement from the president. 

South Africa claims to have taken a neutral stance on Russia's war against Ukraine and has called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the conflict.