MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Monday that President Vladimir Putin would decide whether to attend a BRICS conference in South Africa in August closer to the time.
South Africa, a party to the International Criminal Court (ICC), maintains good relations with Russia but would be theoretically required to arrest Putin under an ICC indictment issued in March over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
Asked at a regular briefing whether Putin would attend the BRICS conference, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “…appropriate decisions will be made closer to the time.”
“But in any case Russia will actively take part (in the conference),” Peskov added, describing the BRICS as “a very important association”.
The BRICS group comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, a bloc seen as a powerful emerging-market alternative to the West.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin on March 17, alleging that Russia’s forcible deportation of Ukrainian children amounted to a war crime.
Russia has not concealed a programme under which it has brought thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia but presents it as a humanitarian campaign to protect orphans and children abandoned in the conflict zone.
Peskov at the time described the ICC move as “outrageous and unacceptable”.
Russia is not a member of the ICC and Putin is very unlikely to end up in court any time soon. But the warrant means that he could be arrested and sent to The Hague if he travels to any ICC member states.
The ICC has also issued a warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, on the same charges.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Gareth Jones)
