South African authorities ask Putin not to come to BRICS summit, otherwise they will have to arrest him

The South African authorities have asked Russian dictator Vladimir Putin not to attend the BRICS summit to be held in South Africa in August due to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.

Source. This was reported by the South African newspaper Sunday Times, citing its own sources.

"We are not considering the option of not arresting Putin. If he comes here, we will have to arrest him," an unnamed South African government official told the newspaper.

According to the Sunday Times, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the creation of a special committee to consider possible options in connection with the current situation.

The newspaper's source noted that he sees no way to solve the problem except to invite Putin to participate in the summit via video link. The unnamed officials confirmed that talks on this issue are already underway with Moscow.

At the end of March, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that no decision had been made on Putin's participation in the summit.

On March 17, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for war criminal Vladimir Putin and children's ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. They are accused of organizing the abductions of Ukrainian children and taking them to Russia from the occupied territories.

Background. Earlier it was reported that South Africa is even initiating a withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court due to Putin's possible visit.