The South African government is evaluating its position regarding the arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) related to the upcoming BRICS summit in Johannesburg, according to Obed Bapela, South Africa's deputy minister of public enterprises.
Bapela, who is also the deputy chair of the African National Congress (ANC) party's international relations subcommittee, said in an interview with SABC News on Monday that the situation is complex, because the arrest of the Russian leader by South African authorities would be a "provocation" against the people who elected him.
President Putin is scheduled to attend the upcoming summit of leaders of the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – in August in Pretoria, South Africa – a member of the ICC. Since the issuance of the arrest warrant for the Russian head of state in March, the South African government has been seeking a balanced solution to the issue.
An inter-ministerial committee chaired by South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile is scheduled to meet on Monday to review the ICC situation and make recommendations to the South African Cabinet.
Last week, Obed Bapela stated that the South African government plans to change national legislation to allow Pretoria to determine who to arrest if requested by the ICC.
In mid-March, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and the Russian presidential commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for allegedly forcibly removing Ukrainian children from the area of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. The Russian side has repeatedly stated that children were voluntarily relocated from dangerous areas and that some of them, whose homes are now safe, have returned.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a statement that Moscow refuses to recognize the ICC's decision, noting that Russia is not a signatory to the Rome Statute.
"In this situation, we believe that this international body is essentially a puppet in the hands of the so-called collective West, which uses it for its own purposes in order to further increase pressure on our country. This will not work," Peskov said last month.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the rulings "null and void."