BRICS foreign ministers on Thursday asserted their bloc’s ambition to rival Western powers, but their talks in South Africa were overshadowed by questions over whether Russia’s president, Vladmir Putin, will be arrested if he attended a BRICS summit in August.
President Putin is the subject of a war crimes arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Mrs. Naledi Pandor, South Africa’s foreign minister, says her country is mulling options if President Putin plans to attend the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.
As a member of the ICC, South Africa would theoretically be required to arrest the Russian President.
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As she arrived for a first round of talks with representatives from Brazil, Russia, India and China, Mrs Pandor was asked questions about what South Africa would do
Responding to the questions, the Minister said South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, will indicate what the final position of South Africa is, but as things stand, an invitation has been issued to all (BRICS) heads of state.
The ICC accused President Putin in March of the war crime of forcibly deporting children from Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine. Moscow denies the allegations. South Africa had invited Putin in January.
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