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Putin remotely attends BRICS summit in South Africa while facing war crimes warrant

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping  were both absent as leaders from the BRICS group of emerging economies started a three-day summit in South Africa on Tuesday.

Putin’s travel to Johannesburg was complicated by an outstanding International Criminal Court warrant  for his arrest over the abduction of children from Ukraine. His participation as the bloc named for member nations Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa opened its first in-person meeting since before the COVID-19 pandemic came in the form of a 17-minute prerecorded speech.

Xi, who was in South Africa and held a bilateral morning meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa, did not join his host and the leaders of Brazil and India for a business forum at the primary summit venue. No reason was given for his absence, and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao read Xi’s speech.

The summit’s main session in Johannesburg’s financial district of Sandton is scheduled for Wednesday, when Xi, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ramaphosa were expected to meet as BRICS mulls a possible expansion.

READ MORE: Russia, China to advocate for their agendas among developing nations at BRICS summit

The bloc already is home to 40 percent of the world’s population and responsible for more than 30 percent of global economic output, and more than 20 nations have applied to join, according to South African officials, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi planned to attend the summit.

The five current member countries will have to agree on the criteria for new members before any countries are admitted, but a bigger BRICS is seen as a policy favored by China and Russia amid their deteriorating relations with the West.

Brazil, Russia, India and China formed the bloc in 2009. South Africa was added in 2010.

While Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was representing Russia in Johannesburg, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Putin would fully engage in the summit while participating remotely.

Local officials said Putin would “virtually” attend a Tuesday welcome dinner hosted by South Africa. The agenda also lists him as giving a speech via video link on Wednesday.

Overall, around 1,200 delegates from the five BRICS nations and dozens of other developing countries are are in South Africa’s biggest city, and more than 40 heads of state were expected to take part in some of the summit meetings, according to Ramaphosa.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also was expected to attend.

On Tuesday’s opening day, there were calls for more economic cooperation and collaboration in areas such as health, education and climate change while reflecting a growing sentiment in some parts of the world that institutions seen as Western-led, including the the U.N., the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, do not serve developing nations.

READ MORE: Greek PM Mitsotakis pledges to continue support for Ukraine during Zelenskyy meeting

While in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, earlier Tuesday for his meeting with Xi, Ramaphosa said he was seeking “Chinese support for South Africa and Africa’s call for the reform of global governance institutions, notably the United Nations Security Council.”

Africa and South America have no permanent representatives on the Security Council despite being home to nearly 2 billion people.

Xi, who has gradually resumed foreign travel after the lifting of his country’s strict COVID-19 restrictions, joined Ramaphosa to watch a ceremonial parade by soldiers at the Union Buildings, the official seat of the South African government.

Xi made brief comments at the event, saying China was ready for more cooperation with Africa’s most advanced economy “to take our comprehensive strategic partnerships to new heights.”

BRICS officials have pushed back at suggestions the the bloc is taking an anti-West turn under the influence of China and Russia, saying it is rather looking out for the interests of the Global South.

But the BRICS stance is at odds with the United States and its Western allies on a number of issues, not least over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The European Union called on Xi, Lula, Modi and Ramaphosa to use this week’s gathering to condemn Russia and Putin for the war in Ukraine, but that’s unlikely to happen.

If anything, BRICS has been a forum for Russia to express its anti-Western rhetoric, with Lavrov using a BRICS foreign ministers meeting in June to lambast the West for its “hegemony” and using “financial blackmail” to serve its ”selfish interests.”

A small protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was held Tuesday at a public park more than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the summit venue.

The U.S. and EU will be closely monitoring events in Johannesburg, with the long list of countries lining up to join BRICS suggesting that the bloc’s calls for a reorganization of the global governance structure might be hitting home with many.

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South Africa Skirts Dilemma After Putin Cancels Visit

The Russian leader’s decision not to go in person to a diplomatic meeting in Johannesburg spared South Africa the predicament of whether to arrest him. He has been accused by an international court of war crimes.

By John Eligon

Reporting from Johannesburg

• Published July 18, 2023 Updated July 19, 2023

South African officials have been wrestling for months with a dilemma that thrust them into the cross hairs of a faraway war: Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, a close ally, was set to attend an important diplomatic summit in their country, yet they would be legally obliged to arrest him because he is wanted by an international court that has accused him of war crimes in Ukraine.

With the August summit fast approaching, it seemed that South Africa had to choose between burning bridges with Russia or damaging relations with the United States and other Western nations, major trading partners that have grown increasingly irritated by South Africa’s warm relations with Moscow.

But on Wednesday, Mr. Putin gave South Africa a way out.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Mr. Putin had, by “mutual agreement,” decided not to attend the summit in person, and would send his foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, in his place. Russian state media said that Mr. Putin would participate via videoconference in the summit, a long-planned meeting of the heads of state of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, a bloc known as BRICS.

While this decision eases South Africa’s immediate dilemma, the country is still walking a shaky and very public tightrope as it tries to maintain strong ties with each of its superpower allies when they are at odds with one another.

South Africa has faced withering criticism from the United States for refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. American officials have in addition accused South Africa of providing arms to Russia , a claim that the government has denied and that Mr. Ramaphosa said was being investigated.

Critics at home have accused Mr. Ramaphosa, who faces a tough re-election contest next year, of taking a soft stance toward Russia that could hurt South Africa economically. American lawmakers and government officials have suggested that the U.S. should consider revoking trade benefits for South Africa and rethink the alliance between the countries all together. Hosting Mr. Putin would only have inflamed those demands.

Mr. Putin is the subject of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court, which accuses him of being responsible for the abduction of Ukrainian children and their deportation to Russia. As a signatory to the court, South Africa would have been required to arrest the Russian president if he set foot on its soil.

Yet Mr. Putin had for months insisted that he would attend the summit in person, rejecting entreaties to stay home or attend by video. But he softened his stance after the instability set off last month by the brief revolt organized by the leader of the Wagner network, Yevgeny Prigozhin, according to a South African government official who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Mr. Putin “became easier to persuade as a result of the recent domestic problems he is having,” said the official.

A spokesman for Mr. Ramaphosa, Vincent Magwenya, said he was unaware of whether the revolt had influenced Mr. Putin’s decision but that it was the result of lengthy deliberations.

South African officials have said in recent months that they feared that the question over Mr. Putin’s attendance at the BRICS meeting threatened to overshadow the agenda. BRICS has fashioned itself as an alternative to a world order centered on the U.S. and Europe, and a voice for nations that are not among the world’s superpowers.

BRICS has pushed for more developing countries to have seats on the U.N. Security Council, for rich nations to provide more funding to developing countries to address climate change, and for more equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.

As the bloc’s newest and smallest member, South Africa is trying to wield more influence globally and fashion itself as the voice of Africa, analysts say.

South African officials have accused Western nations of having a double standard for calling to arrest Mr. Putin for war crimes in Ukraine, while escaping action by the international criminal court over the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Ramaphosa’s political party, the African National Congress, said as recently as Wednesday morning that it wished that Mr. Putin would attend the summit. But the party applauded the ultimate outcome. It will “let the BRICS summit focus on the pressing issues in the geopolitical situation,” said Mahlengi Bhengu, the A.N.C.’s national spokeswoman, in a news briefing on Wednesday.

While many who wanted Mr. Putin to attend may be disappointed, she said, “I do think that wisdom may have prevailed amongst our leaders.”

Mr. Ramaphosa had warned in a court affidavit made public on Tuesday that his country could suffer severe consequences if it arrested Mr. Putin. Russia “has made it clear” that an arrest “would be a declaration of war,” Mr. Ramaphosa said in the 32-page affidavit.

The Kremlin denied having made any direct threats toward South Africa, but on Wednesday, its spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told reporters that “it’s absolutely clear to everyone what an attempt to encroach on the Russian leader means.”

South Africa’s largest opposition political party, the Democratic Alliance, had asked a court in Pretoria, the nation’s executive capital, to force the government to arrest Mr. Putin if he attended the summit, scheduled for Aug. 22 to 24.

The leader of the alliance, John Steenhuisen, praised Wednesday’s announcement.

“It averts a potential international crisis,” he said.

In 2015, South Africa faced international condemnation when it refused to arrest the then-president of Sudan, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who was wanted by the international court on charges of war crimes and genocide arising from atrocities in the western province of Darfur. South Africa permitted Mr. al-Bashir to fly in and out of Johannesburg unimpeded for a meeting of the African Union. He is still wanted by the court.

Lynsey Chutel contributed reporting from Johannesburg, and Ivan Nechepurenko from Tbilisi, Georgia.

John Eligon is the Johannesburg bureau chief, covering southern Africa. He previously worked as a reporter on the National, Sports and Metro desks. His work has taken him from the streets of Minneapolis following George Floyd’s death to South Africa for Nelson Mandela’s funeral. More about John Eligon

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South Africa says arresting Putin would be ‘declaration of war’

Putin’s arrest would undermine South African-led mission to end war in Ukraine, President Ramaphosa says.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said that any attempt to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin when he visits the country next month would be a declaration of war with Russia.

Ramaphosa said in court papers that were released on Tuesday that “Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting President would be a declaration of war.”

Putin has been invited to a BRICS summit in Johannesburg next month but is the target of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant – a provision that Pretoria as an ICC member would be expected to implement were he to attend.

South Africa’s diplomatic dilemma is playing out in court, where the leading opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), is trying to force the government’s hand and ensure the Kremlin leader is held and handed over to the ICC if he steps foot in the country.

In his response, Ramaphosa described the DA’s application as “irresponsible” and said national security was at stake. According to the president, South Africa is seeking an exemption under ICC rules based on the fact that enacting the arrest could threaten the “security, peace and order of the state”.

“It would be inconsistent with our constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia,” he said, adding that this would go against his duty to protect the country.

The arrest would also undermine a South African-led mission to end the war in Ukraine and “foreclose any peaceful solution”, Ramaphosa wrote.

The ICC treaty states that a member country should consult the court when it identifies problems that may impede the execution of a request, and that the court may not proceed with requesting an arrest if this would require a state to break international rules on diplomatic immunity.

‘Flimsy’ argument

South Africa is the current chair of the BRICS group, a gathering of economic heavyweights that also includes Brazil, Russia, India and China, which sees itself as a counter-balance to Western economic domination.

Putin is sought by the ICC over accusations that Russia unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.

South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile has said in recent interviews with local media the government has been trying to persuade Putin not to come – but so far unsuccessfully.

Signed in June and initially marked as “confidential”, Ramaphosa’s affidavit was published on Tuesday, after the court ruled it be made public.

DA leader John Steenhuisen praised the court’s decision, describing Ramaphosa’s argument that South Africa risked war with Russia as “farcical” and “flimsy”.

“When foreign policy decisions have the capacity to decimate South Africa’s international reputation … and decimate our economy, it is crucial that government uphold its obligation to be open and transparent,” Steenhuisen said in a statement.

South Africa has strong economic and trade relations with the United States and Europe.

Trade with Russia is much smaller, but Pretoria has ties with Moscow dating back decades, to when the Kremlin supported the governing African National Congress party in its struggle against apartheid.

Last month, Ramaphosa led a seven-country African peace delegation including representatives from Egypt, Senegal and Zambia, to talks in Kyiv and Saint Petersburg.

Commenting on the affidavit on the sidelines of Nelson Mandela Day celebrations in the late leader’s birthplace of Qunu, Ramaphosa described the case as involving “intricate diplomatic issues”.

Watch CBS News

South Africa moves to let Putin attend BRICS summit despite ICC arrest warrant over Ukraine war

By Sarah Carter

May 30, 2023 / 8:29 AM EDT / CBS News

Johannesburg —  The South African government has said it will extend its Diplomatic Immunity and Privileges Act to all international officials who plan to attend an August summit in the country. The controversial move was clearly an attempt to pave the way for Russian President Vladimir Putin to travel to South Africa despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing a warrant for his arrest in March over alleged  war crimes in Ukraine .

As a signatory to the ICC, South Africa may be obliged to arrest Putin if he sets foot in the country, but its government appears to be looking for a way around that obligation.

• Russia issues arrest warrant for Sen. Lindsey Graham

Senior government officials tell CBS News that Putin's possible attendance at the summit of the BRICS block of developing nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — has been a topic of discussion at the "highest levels" in South Africa since the arrest warrant was issued.

In April, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed an inter-ministerial committee headed by his Deputy President Paul Mashatile to look into the matter. CBS News understands the government is looking into the wording of the Rome Statute, the charter that established the ICC, for a possible loophole that would enable Putin to attend without South Africa having to arrest him.

Article 98 of the ICC Rome Statute states: "The Court may not proceed with a request for surrender or assistance which would require the requested State to act inconsistently with its obligations under international law with respect to the State or diplomatic immunity of a person… of a third State, unless the Court can first obtain the cooperation of that third State for the waiver of the immunity."

That wording suggests Putin could only be arrested in South Africa if Russia agreed to waive Putin's immunity from prosecution, granted by the move taken on Tuesday, which it obviously wouldn't do.

Speaking Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "Russia attaches enormous importance to the development of this (BRICS) format of integration. And Russia will take part in this summit at the proper level." Russian officials had previously said that Putin had been invited to attend the summit.

"Of course, we count as a bare minimum on partner countries in such an important format not being guided by such illegal decisions," Peskov responded when pressed on the possibility of Putin being arrested at the summit. Russia, which like this U.S. is not a signatory to the ICC, has always dismissed the international court's indictment of Putin as a baseless and illegal move.

This is the second time the South African government has tried to use Article 98 of the Rome Statue. The first time was in June 2015, when the ICC asked the government to arrest then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who had travelled to Johannesburg to attend an African Union summit. His arrival in the country set off frantic diplomatic discussions while a South African high court heard arguments over an application that would have forced officials to arrest him. His sudden, premature departure allowed him to leave the country unimpeded — just before the high court ruled that he should be detained.

Ramaphosa had in April caused some confusion when it emerged, he had said that the ruling African National Congress Party to which he is President would push for the government to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. Officials around Ramaphosa quickly walked those comments back.

South Africa's relationship with the United States has been strained since the country assumed a "non-aligned stance" on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The relationship deteriorated further earlier this month when U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety, speaking to local media, accused South Africa of secretly loading arms onto a sanctioned Russian ship in the Simon's Town harbor in December 2022, before the ship returned to Russia with its contents.

Brigety said it was "fundamentally unacceptable."

His comments came after tension flared in February when South Africa hosted joint naval war games off its coast with Russian and Chinese warships.

South Africa and Russia have a strong relationship forged during the years of the apartheid regime. Moscow supported the now-ruling African National Congress when it was still a liberation party fighting to end the racist regime.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who's currently in Kenya, has confirmed he will attend the BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting at the end of this week in Cape Town.

• International Criminal Court
• South Africa
• Vladimir Putin

Sarah Carter is an award-winning CBS News producer based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has been with CBS News since 1997, following freelance work for organizations including The New York Times, National Geographic, PBS Frontline and NPR.

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Putin won't attend a South Africa summit next month, avoiding possible arrest

Kate Bartlett

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) speaks to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a plenary session at the Russia-Africa summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, on Oct. 24, 2019. Sergei Chirikov/AP hide caption

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) speaks to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a plenary session at the Russia-Africa summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, on Oct. 24, 2019.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending an economic summit in Johannesburg next month, South Africa's government said Wednesday. That lets the summit's host country breathe a sigh of relief from a critical legal dilemma of whether to act on an international arrest warrant issued for the Russian leader.

"By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the Summit but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister, Mr Sergey Lavrov," the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement .

A Kremlin spokesman confirmed to Russian state media Ria Novosti that Lavrov will attend in person, and said Putin will have "full participation" in the conference remotely by video.

The summit in late August will bring together Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — a group of economies known as BRICS — and most of them will send their top leaders.

The question of whether Putin would show up in person created a headache for South Africa. It is a signatory of the International Criminal Court, which issued the arrest warrant for Putin in March for alleged war crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In South African court papers made public on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said that arresting Putin would "risk engaging in war with Russia."

Ramaphosa's governing party has close relations with Moscow and has taken an officially neutral stance on the war in Ukraine. His government has repeatedly abstained in United Nations votes to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and to call for an end to the war.

Many African countries are staying neutral on Russia's invasion of Ukraine

South Africa infuriated many countries, including the United States, when it hosted and took part in naval exercises with Russia and China in February, coinciding with the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.

In May, the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety , accused the country of "arming" Russia, calling it "fundamentally unacceptable."

The South African government said it would investigate his allegations, with a foreign ministry spokesperson saying in a tweet that government weapons authorities had "no record of an approved arms sale by the state to Russia related to the period/incident in question."

In June, Ramaphosa led a delegation of African leaders to Ukraine and Russia, in an effort initiate peace talks.

Ramaphosa has argued that South Africa refuses to be drawn into taking sides in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, insisting on a position of nonalignment — with many, including the U.S questioning its neutrality.

• South Africa
• Vladimir Putin
• cyril ramaphosa

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Pro-Putin TV channel simulates devastating nuclear strike on London

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Russian television has shown a simulation of a nuclear strike on central London with more than 850,000 deaths.

The startling four minute video was aired in an apparent effort to prevent Britain from giving permission to Ukraine to allow Storm Shadow missiles to hit targets inside Russia .

The Putin entourage has repeatedly warned that he could use nuclear weapons, but now a simulation video has taken things to the next level.

The video shown on Tsargrad’s Telegram channel begins by threatening: ‘Imagine for a moment that the unimaginable happens. A nuclear weapon explodes over London. In this documentary, we explore the devastating consequences of this catastrophe.’

The simulation shows what would happen if a warhead with 750 kilotons detonated, expanding a fireball as hot as the sun with a radius of 950 metres.

The video explained: ‘Anything trapped inside this fireball is instantly vaporised. In our simulation, the epicentre of the explosion is at Westminster.

‘People within that radius won’t even feel anything because the nerve impulse transmission speed is slower. Within 5 km [3 miles] of the epicentre the blast radius city of London, Camden Town, Kensington, Brixton these areas will receive the most destruction.’

The video estimated the initial death toll could exceed 250,000 people, with 600,000 injured within a radius of six miles.

They added: ‘Within that radius anything that can burn will catch fire. Petrol stations, automobiles, power substations, gas infrastructure.

‘Explosive facilities will explode and amplify the effect of the devastation over a huge area, including areas from Camden to Greenwich and Islington to Wandsworth.’

The video claims that ‘according to various estimates, a further 450,000 people will die from burns, debris, injuries or radiation sickness, and over a million will be traumatised.’

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The video was initially published around three months ago, but was now highlighted by Tsargrad, a pro-Putin propaganda channel.

The shockwave would reach Hounslow, Edgware and Enfield, the video claims, with damage even reaching to Essex or Surrey.

They added: ‘If the explosion were to occur on the ground rather than in the air, the fallout map would be greatly expanded and the radioactive fallout could even reach Manchester, infecting people, land and animals.

‘The problem with a nuclear explosion in London is also that London is essentially not designed to survive such a disaster. Eleven of London’s twenty hospitals would be within the blast.’

The video then warned that ‘nuclear weapons are a great threat to our future’.

In 2018, Putin said that in the event of nuclear war, ‘We [Russians] will go to heaven as martyrs, and they [in the West] will simply die, because they will not even have time to repent.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] .

For more stories like this, check our news page .

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