Senior officials in South Africa fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not agree to the option of participating in the BRICS summit, which excludes his travel to the event. This is reported by the South African newspaper The Sunday Times.
It is noted that the possible visit of the Russian leader will put the country in a difficult position due to the demand of the ICC, which previously issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest. In this regard, members of the South African government proposed to President Cyril Ramaphosa three possible options for inviting the Russian side.
The first assumes that Putin will be represented at the summit by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The second provides for Putin’s virtual participation.
The officials also suggest asking China, which hosted the BRICS summit last year, to host the meeting this time as well.
South Africa, however, does not rule out that Putin may abandon these options.
The fact that South Africa is considering the possibility of moving the summit to China was previously reported by The Daily Telegraph and Reuters, but the Russian Foreign Ministry called these reports a stuffing.
Earlier, the South African authorities promised that the summit participants would have diplomatic immunity.
Recall that the meeting of the heads of the countries – members of the association is scheduled for August 22-24.
Source: Rosbalt
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