Putin will not go to Brazil to attend BRICS summit, afraid of arrest

Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the BRICS summit to be held in Brazil next month in person. The Kremlin confirmed this on Wednesday, saying that this decision has been taken due to the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Instead, Putin will take part in this summit to be held in Rio de Janeiro on July 6-7 via video conferencing.

Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters, “The President will participate in the main events via video link. This decision has been taken due to some difficulties in terms of ICC requirements.” He also said that the Brazilian government was unable to take a clear stand in this context, due to which Putin’s personal presence was not possible. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will attend the summit to represent Russia.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March 2023. It accuses Putin of illegal deportation of Ukrainian children after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia has denied these war crimes allegations and the Kremlin has called the warrant invalid. Russia is not a signatory to the treaty establishing the ICC. However, the warrant makes it risky for Putin to travel to countries that are signatories to the ICC treaty.

Brazil is a member of the ICC
Brazil is a member of the ICC and a signatory to the Treaty of Rome. In this sense, Brazil would be obliged to arrest Putin if he enters the country. “The Brazilian government did not give any guarantees that would make the participation of our president possible,” Ushakov said. Putin has previously exercised caution due to the ICC warrant. In 2023, he avoided attending the BRICS summit in South Africa, another ICC member country. However, last year he travelled to Mongolia, which despite being a member of the ICC failed to arrest him, for which Mongolia faced criticism from the ICC and the EU.

Putin regularly promotes the BRICS grouping as a counter force against Western dominance. The name BRICS is derived from its founding members Brazil, Russia, India and China. The group now comprises 11 members, including South Africa, and aims to strengthen the voice of the global south at international forums.

Xi Jinping will not attend BRICS summit in Brazil
Apart from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping will also not travel to Brazil for the BRICS summit scheduled to be held early next month. Though there has been no official announcement yet, media reports suggest that Xi Jinping is planning to skip the BRICS summit. If confirmed, this will be the first time in more than a decade that he will not attend the meeting.

Instead, Chinese Premier and Xi’s confidant Li Keqiang will attend the summit, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday. During a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun declined to comment on reports about Xi’s decision and said information about China’s presence at the BRICS summit would be released in due course.