Russian President Vladimir Putin Will Not Attend 15th BRICS Summit, Putting SA Diplomatic Debacle to Rest

• Russian President Vladimir Putin will be a no-show at the 15th Brics Summit in South Africa
• The Russian Federation's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend the summit in Putin's stead
• The ICC warrant against the Russian president created a diplomatic storm for the SA government, which would have had to arrest Putin if he had come to SA

PRETORIA - South Africa has dodged a diplomatic bullet after Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to skip the highly anticipated 15th Brics Summit.

According to The Presidency, President Cyril Ramaphosa finalised the format for the summit, revealing that the Russian Federation's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take Putin's place.

SA avoids have to execute ICC arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin

The development puts to bed a diplomatic headache that put the South African government in a difficult position when the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president.

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Putin to skip BRICS summit in S.Africa under arrest threat

Being signatories to the ICC, the government would have been forced to arrest Putin if he set foot on South African soil.

The Presidency's announcement successfully kneecaps the Democratic Alliance's (DA) plan to approach the court on Friday, 19 July, to force the government to execute the arrest warrant, EWN reported

South Africans have mixed feeling about Vladimir Putin skipping the Brics Summit

Below are some comments:

Sy'mon Oupa Malapane said:

"We have a smart President who balanced the equation between super forces. Now the ICC must make another plan and leave South Africa out of this Vladimir Putin saga."

Lehasa Skeem-Saam criticised:

"We were ready for a fight... What's wrong with the president."

Frampton Mc Lagen Litchtenstuin praised:

"Wow! That is great news."

Read also

Ramaphosa says he can't risk the lives of South Africans by arresting Putin, says it's a declaration of war

@MulaudziTsikoo added:

"Case close, good idea by both Russia and South Africa."

@TomHarry1878 proclaimed

"Good! There's no point for South Africa to bear the brunt of this war with the West."

President Cyril Ramaphosa reveals reasons why South Africa won’t risk arresting Russia’s Vladimir Putin

Earlier, Briefly News reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa's confidential affidavit to the International Criminal Court (ICC) about Russian President Vladimir Putin's arrest warrant has been made public.

This comes after the Democratic Alliance (DA) approached the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to compel the president to make his answering affidavit public, EWN reports.

In the answering affidavit to the ICC, Ramaphosa stated that Russia made it clear that arresting its sitting president (Putin) would be a declaration of war, reports SABC News.

Source: Briefly News