President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed South Africa’s readiness to host the 15th BRICS Summit, marking the first in-person event since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The summit will be attended by leaders from Brazil, India, China, and South Africa.
The Presidency however confirms that by mutual agreement Russian President Vladimir Putin would not attend the summit of the BRICS group of nations in South Africa in August but that Russia would be represented by its Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
President Ramaphosa is confident in the success of the event and urges the nation to extend hospitality to delegates from various continents and the globe.
“war”
Russia did not tell South Africa that arresting President Putin on an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) would mean “war”, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, however, that everyone understood – without having it explained to them – what an attempt to infringe on Putin’s rights would mean.
-Additional Reporting by Reuters
