MOSCOW, June 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Vladimir Putin will not travel to Brazil for next month’s BRICS summit due to the outstanding International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant on the Russian president, the Kremlin said.
“The president will participate via video link. This is due to certain difficulties in the context of the ICC’s requirements,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, adding that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would travel to the July 6-7 gathering in Rio de Janeiro.
“The President will participate in the main events of this summit via video link. This is due to certain difficulties, in the context of the ICC requirements,” Ushakov explained. “The Brazilian government was unable to take a clear position that would allow our president to take part in this meeting.”
The ICC issued arrest warrants against Putin and his Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for war crimes in March 2023, accusing them of overseeing the illegal deportations of children from Ukraine’s occupied territories to Russia.
The Ukrainian authorities say they have verified Russia’s deportation of more than 19,500 children from occupied areas, of whom only around 1,300 have been returned to Ukraine.
As a member of the ICC and a signatory of the Rome Statute, Brazil is obliged to arrest Putin if he enters the country.
In 2024, Putin opted to attend the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro via video link after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva backtracked on a pledge not to arrest him, saying the decision would be left up to Brazil’s courts. — NNN-AGENCIES
