- South African officials hope Russian President Vladimir Putin will not surrender next month.
- Putin is due to attend a BRICS summit in Johannesburg, despite an international arrest warrant.
- “We would be happy if he did not come,” South African Vice President Paul Mashatile said on Friday.
The South African government is very hopeful that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not show up for the meeting it is hosting next month, a senior official said in an interview published on Friday, fearing it could lead to an international incident.
“We would be happy if he didn’t come,” South African Vice President Paul Mashatile told the Mail & Guardian.
The sentiment comes after South Africa in January declared Putin welcome to attend the upcoming BRICS summit in Johannesburg, which begins on August 22. BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, whose governments have formed a rival to the G7 alliance of developed economies.
Russia has frequently presented the grouping as a challenge to Western hegemony and the key to a future “multipolar” world no longer dominated by the United States or Europe. In February, he held joint naval exercises with China and South Africa just off the latter’s coast.
But in March the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president, accusing him of overseeing war crimes in Ukraine, namely the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia. Countries that have signed the treaty establishing the court, known as the Rome Statute, are required to “take immediate steps” to detain suspects.
“We understand that we are bound by the Rome Statute,” Mashatile said, “but we cannot invite someone and then arrest them.”
He elaborated on this point in a separate interview with South African outlet News24.
“It’s almost like inviting your friend to your house and then arresting him. That’s why for us he’s not coming is the best solution. The Russians aren’t happy, though. They want he comes,” he said.
A spokesperson for Mashatile later told the Financial Times that the South African government was “speaking directly to President Putin on the ICC issue”.
Putin participated virtually in last year’s BRICS summit, hosted by China. The Kremlin did not say whether it would try to attend the next meeting in person.
Do you have a topical tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com