SA Excludes Vladimir Putin From G20 Summit, Decision Linked to Arrest Warrant for Russian President
- President Vladimir Putin will not be invited to the G20 Summit in South Africa in 2025
- The International Criminal Court issued a warrant of arrest for the Russian President in 2023
- Putin skipped the BRICS Summit in South Africa in 2023 and the G20 Summit in Brazil this year
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Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be invited to the 2025 G20 summit in South Africa.
South Africa will assume the presidency of the G20 in 2025 and host the summit in Johannesburg from 21 to 12 November next year.
While Russia remains a member of the G20, President Putin will not be attending next year's event.
Why Putin won’t be invited to South Africa
South African presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya explained that the legal situation affected their decision. Magwenya made the announcement on 16 December, detailing how the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant for the Russian President affected the situation.
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"The legal situation has not changed since the BRICS summit in Johannesburg. We cannot influence the ICC's decisions in any way," he said.
Decision linked to ICC warrant
South Africa’s stance on Putin is linked to a warrant for his arrest. A warrant was issued on 17 March 2023 by the Pre-Trial Chamber II of the ICC and relates to the forced deportation of Ukrainian children during Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. The action was classified as a war crime.
The ICC stated that the President is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children and the unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
The Hague court also issued a warrant of arrest for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation.
Putin skips BRICS summit
The legal situation has prevented Putin from other international engagements.
In 2022, he did not attend the G20 Summit in Indonesia, and in August 2023, he skipped the BRICS summit in South Africa.
Alexei Malashenko, chief researcher at the Dialogue of Civilisations Institute, said Putin's decision not to attend the 2022 summit was because he did not want to be publicly humiliated again.
He also did not attend the 2024 G20 Summit in Brazil in November. He stated that his absence was an attempt to avoid disrupting the G20's normal work.
BRIC Summit plays pre-recorded Putin speech
Briefly News reported how Russian President Vladimir Putin skipped the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.
While he did not attend the event in August 2023, he did have his pre-recorded video message played for attendees.
The recorded speech sparked mixed reactions on social media, with some saying Putin does not look real in the video.
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Source: Briefly News
