The Kremlin announced today that President Putin would not travel to Johannesburg, South Africa, for the BRICS Summit on Aug. 22-24. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti: “President Putin has decided to participate in the BRICS summit in the format of a video conference call. This will be a full-fledged participation. [Foreign] Minister Lavrov will be present at the meeting itself,” the Kremlin spokesman said.
Under the ruling of the International Criminal Court, of which South Africa is a signatory, they would be required to arrest Putin. They would no doubt not do that—in fact, President Ramaphosa just stated that such an arrest would amount to a “declaration of war” against Moscow. Nevertheless, to avoid problems for the South African government resulting from his presence, as well as other security considerations, Putin decided to participate by video conferencing. (https://tass.com/politics/1649179)
