Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was noticeably absent at the opening session of the BRICS summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The 15th session of the bloc, which will last for three days, opened on Tuesday, August 22, 2023.
BRICS is an amalgamation of emerging economies made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Four leaders of member countries answered present, while Russia was absent.
MMI gathered that President Putin will be attending the summit via video link.
Political observers say the absence of President Putin is not unconnected to an international arrest warrant hanging over his head.
The International Criminal Court in March 2023 issued an arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes in Ukraine.
Fears of arrest
When the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin, there were high expectations that he would be arrested if he stepped foot in South Africa for the BRICS summit.
The court, which is based in the Hague, relies on the collaboration of member countries to execute its orders.
South Africa, it should be noted, is a signatory of the Rome Statute that created the court.
After facing pressure to arrest Putin, South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa said, “Arresting Putin will be a declaration of war.”
“I must highlight, for the sake of transparency, that South Africa has obvious problems with executing a request to arrest and surrender President Putin. Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting president would be a declaration of war.” Ramaphosa stated
Despite the assurances, Putin decided to stay away from the meeting, opting to participate via video link.
