2023-07-15 08:02:01
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to attend an economic summit next month in South Africa, but the country is trying to persuade him not to come to avoid the legal and diplomatic turmoil that would cause, the president said. South African Vice President.
“It is a dilemma for us. Of course, we cannot arrest him,” Vice President Paul Mashatile said in an interview Friday with the news site News24.
“It’s almost like having a friend over to your house and then arresting him. Therefore, for us, the best solution is not to come. The Russians are not happy, they want Putin to come.”
South Africa is a signatory to the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court and would therefore be required to arrest Putin as the court indicted the ruler in March on war crimes for kidnapping Ukrainian children.
Moscow has dismissed the arrest warrant. South African authorities are likely to violate the treaty and not arrest Putin, but some opposition parties, human rights groups and activists have insisted that the Russian leader be arrested and have threatened to do so themselves, raising fears regarding security in the meeting of the group of countries called BRICS in Johannesburg.
South Africa, which has refrained from criticizing Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, faces the possibility of further damaging its relations with the West if it allows Putin to attend the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit.
Putin has yet to travel to any country that is a signatory to the ICC treaty since the arrest warrant was issued for him.
The Kremlin has so far not said whether Putin will go to the BRICS summit, and the brief rebellion by the Wagner Group appears to make it unlikely that the ruler would travel when such a serious threat to his authority has emerged.
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