On Tuesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the country would consider the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party's decision to withdraw from the ICC in view of the upcoming BRICS summit to be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom the court has issued an arrest warrant. On Wednesday, Ramaphosa's office released a statement claiming there was "an error" in the South African president's comment and that the nation would remain in the ICC.
"Russia is taking and will continue to take an active part in the work of this association. Russia is an important and responsible BRICS member. We will certainly also take part in the work of the summit to be held in South Africa. Undoubtedly, this will be preceded by our bilateral contacts with the South Africans. We will clarify their position [on the ICC membership]," Peskov said at a briefing, when asked how the change of opinion of South African politicians would affect the possibility of Putin's participation in the BRICS summit.
On Monday, Peskov confirmed that President Putin had received an invitation to the bloc's summit scheduled for August.
In March, the Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin, as well as Russia's commissioner for children's rights, citing the alleged unlawful transfer of children out of the combat zone in Ukraine. The Kremlin said Russia is not party to the ICC and the court's decision is legally null and void for the country.
In April, senior ANC lawmaker Obed Bapela told Sputnik that South Africa had made the decision to withdraw from the court and would try to update domestic laws accordingly by August, when the country will host the BRICS summit.
BRICS unites the world's largest developing economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. A number of other countries intend to join the economic bloc, including Argentina, Iran, Indonesia, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. South Africa, which assumed the rotating BRICS presidency in January, is hosting the 15th BRICS summit in August.