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Debate over possible Putin visit heats up in South Africa amid U.S. "concern" over BRICS intentions

By Sarah Carter

Updated on: June 2, 2023 / 5:32 AM EDT / CBS News

Johannesburg — The foreign ministers of the five nations of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa, were wrapping up a meeting Friday in Cape Town, South Africa, amid mounting speculation over the prospect of Russian President Vladimir Putin attending an August summit in the country. In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for Putin's arrest over alleged war crimes in Ukraine , so he could potentially face arrest if he sets foot in South Africa, which is an ICC signatory country.

The South African government has said it's seeking legal advice about possible loopholes in the Rome Statute, which established the international court, that might enable Putin to attend the higher-level BRICS summit this summer.

On Monday, South Africa's foreign minister Naledi Pandor announced an order granting diplomatic immunity to all foreign dignitaries attending the meeting this week, as well as the upcoming one in August. It was the clearest signal to date that the South African government is keen to enable Putin to attend the meeting.

• How Russia's Wagner Group exploits Africa to fund its fight in Ukraine

Obed Bapela, a senior official in the office of South Africa's presidency, told the BBC World Service that the government planned to submit changes to the country's laws, specifically the ICC Implementation Act, to parliament in June that would give leaders the power to decide who to arrest, regardless of ICC warrants. Bapela said the government would also seek a specific waiver from the ICC to ensure it would not have to arrest Putin if he did show up in August.

By Friday morning, however, reports in South African media suggested the government was considering a proposal to move the August BRICS summit from Durban to China, which would eliminate any pressure on Pretoria to detain Putin if he does attend. China is not an ICC signatory state, so is under no obligation to detain anyone on a warrant issued by the court. All BRICS member nations would have to approve any decision to move the summit.

The Democratic Alliance, South Africa's main opposition party, has launched a court application to force authorities to arrest Putin if he comes this summer.

Speaking Wednesday at the National Assembly in Cape Town, President Cyril Ramaphosa said there had been "concerted efforts to draw South Africa into the broader geopolitical contest around the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Yet we have consistently maintain our non-aligned stance, our respect for the U.N. Charter, and for the peaceful resolution of conflict through dialogue."

As the debate over Putin's possible visit intensified, Ramaphosa said he would send four of his senior government ministers, including Pandor, to G7 countries as envoys to explain South Africa's commitment to a "non-aligned" position on Russia's war in Ukraine. 

Earlier in May, Ramaphosa announced an African leaders' "peace mission" to Ukraine and Russia in June. Presidents Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine have said they will meet the African heads of state, who will be led by Ramaphosa.

"Principal to our discussions are efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the devastating conflict in Ukraine," Ramaphosa said when announcing the mission by himself and six other African heads of state.

The BRICS meetings come on the heels of a late-May summit of the Group of Seven (G-7) leaders in Japan. That meeting was marked by the U.S. and the world's other biggest economies hitting Russia with a raft of new sanctions over its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and discussion of countering an increasingly assertive China.

South Africa was not invited to the recent G-7 summit — the first time the country had not been invited since Ramaphosa took office in 2018.

U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety, who on May 11 accused the country of providing Russia with weapons in contradiction to its stated neutrality in Ukraine, noted that officials from BRICS nations had framed the bloc as a "counterpoint" to the G-7, and he made it clear the U.S. was watching.

"Our officials expressed quite serious concern of the explicit articulation of the BRICS configuration as a, quote, counterpoint to the G-7," Brigety said . "Of course, South Africa is free to choose its diplomatic and economic partners however it chooses and so is the United States of America."

"This is not a matter of bullying, as I often hear in this context. It's not a matter of threatening," Brigety said. "This is how any relationship works."

Regarding the prospect of Putin visiting South Africa in August and authorities declining to place him under arrest under its obligations as an ICC signatory nation, Brigety said the U.S. could not "understand why the government of South Africa will not publicly and fulsomely commit to the obligations that it has voluntarily taken upon itself."

South African-U.S. relations have been strained since the country asserted its "non-aligned stance" on the Russian war in Ukraine, and they deteriorated further when Brigety 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.

His remarks came after tension flared in February over South Africa's decision to host joint naval war games off its coast with Russian and Chinese warships, as the world marked a full year since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

During the Thursday meetings in Cape Town, the five BRICS foreign ministers will be joined virtually by their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Cuba, Egypt, Argentina and the Democratic Republic, to name a few.

This wider group, referred to as "Friends of BRICS," represent a growing collection of nations from what's referred to as the Global South who are interested in joining the BRICS bloc.

Russian News agency TASS quoted a source on May 26 as saying Putin had "not withdrawn his participation in the summit," adding: "The Russian leader has been invited." 

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South African leader says that arresting Putin if he comes to Johannesburg next month would be ‘war’

FILE - In this photo provided by Photo host Agency RIA Novosti, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa gestures while speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin, not in photo, during their talks after a meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 17, 2023. South Africa’s president said Tuesday, July 18, 2023 that arresting Putin — should he show up at an economic summit next month in Johannesburg — would amount to a “declaration of war” by his country. (Ramil Sitdikov/Photo host Agency RIA Novosti via AP)

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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s president said Tuesday that arresting Russian President Vladimir Putin — should he show up at an economic summit next month in Johannesburg — would amount to a “declaration of war” by his country.

The August summit is bringing together Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — a bloc of developing economies known as BRICS. Officials have said that Putin wants to attend the gathering but have been trying to persuade him to stay away to avoid the legal and diplomatic fallout over his international arrest warrant.

Putin is the subject of a warrant of arrest by the International Criminal Court related to alleged war crimes during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the ICC, South Africa would be obligated to arrest Putin if he visits the African nation.

South Africa’s biggest political opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has tried to compel President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government to pledge to arrest Putin in an action before the High Court in Pretoria.

But in a strongly worded affidavit to the court, made public on Tuesday, Ramaphosa reiterated his past statement that such an action against Putin could also derail any efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

“I must highlight, for the sake of transparency, that South Africa has obvious problems with executing a request to arrest and surrender President Putin,” he said. “Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting president would be a declaration of war.”

“It would be inconsistent with our Constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia,” Ramaphosa added.

The dilemma on the ICC warrant for Putin follows diplomatic tensions with the West over South Africa’s stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. South Africa has consistently abstained from voting at the United Nations to condemn Russia’s aggression, calling instead for dialogue to end the war.

South Africa is also part of efforts by a group of at least six African nations who recently embarked on a peace mission to Kyiv and Moscow to meet with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“An arrest of President Putin would introduce a new complication that would foreclose any peaceful solution” to the conflict, Ramaphosa said in the affidavit, submitted last month.

Ramaphosa had insisted that the affidavit remain confidential but the court ruled on Tuesday it can be made public.

The South African leader had earlier said that an announcement about Putin’s possible participation at the Aug. 22-24 would be made soon.

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South Africa grants Putin and Brics leaders diplomatic immunity for summit

ICC warrant for Russian president’s arrest issued in March over alleged war crimes in Ukraine

South Africa has issued blanket diplomatic immunity to all leaders attending an August summit, meaning Vladimir Putin might be able to travel to Johannesburg and not fear the country acting on an international criminal court warrant for his arrest.

South African officials insisted the broad offer of immunity, issued in a government gazette, may not trump the ICC arrest warrant. As an ICC member, South Africa would be under pressure, and possibly under a legal requirement, to arrest Putin. The court issued a warrant for his arrest in March over the alleged forcible deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.

South Africa is hosting a summit of the Brics group: Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa, in August. A two-day planning meeting of foreign ministers is due to take place this Thursday.

“This is a standard conferment of immunities that we do for all international conferences and summits held in South Africa, irrespective of the level of participation,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. “The immunities are for the conference and not for specific individuals. They are meant to protect the conference and its attendees from the jurisdiction of the host country for the duration of the conference.”

In April, South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, appointed an inter-ministerial committee headed by his deputy president, Paul Mashatile, to look into how the law applied to a visit by the Russian president. The government is looking into the wording of the Rome Statute, the charter that established the ICC, for a 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.” Some say this wording provides South Africa with a chance to invite Putin and not be under any obligation to arrest him.

A similar row occurred in 2005 when the then Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir came to South Africa. He swiftly left the county as it became increasingly likely that the South African high court was about to rule that he had to be arrested.

Russia has stepped up its drive to boost ties with Africa to help offset a chill in relations with the west prompted by its invasion of Ukraine, and plans to hold an Africa-Russia summit in St Petersburg in July.

It is not clear yet if Putin would be willing to save South Africa from the diplomatic dilemma by not attending in person. The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia would take part at the “proper level”. The foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, is already slated to attend the planning meeting.

The Brics group of large emerging economies is increasingly seen as a rival to the G7 group of western industrialised countries.

Asked at a regular news briefing about the possibility of an arrest warrant, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said: “Of course we count as a bare minimum on partner countries in such an important format not being guided by such illegal decisions.”

South Africa has been accused of fence-sitting over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The US embassy recently claimed South Africa had sent weapons to Russia. Support for Russia inside the ruling ANC is strong due to the Soviet Union’s role in opposing colonialism.

The government notice about immunity, which was gazetted on Monday, was routine protocol to protect the conference, the foreign ministry said, adding: “These immunities do not override any warrant that may have been issued by any international tribunal against any attendee of the conference.”

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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.”

Keep reading

‘ego trip’: african peace mission criticised in south africa, south africa’s ramaphosa says governing party wants icc exit, war in ukraine must stop, south africa’s ramaphosa tells putin.

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”.

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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.

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South Africa aware of legal obligations regarding Putin visit

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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa is aware of its legal obligation, a spokesperson for President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday, referring to a proposed visit by Vladimir Putin after an international court issued an arrest warrant against the Russian leader.

Russian President Putin was expected to visit South Africa in August to attend a BRICS summit.

"We are, as the government, cognisant of our legal obligation. However, between now and the summit we will remain engaged with various relevant stakeholders," spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said.

While there has been no official confirmation of Putin's visit, he has been expected to attend the 15th BRICS summit, as he did in 2013.

But such a visit would place Ramaphosa's government, which has not condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in a precarious position after the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday.

"We note the report on the warrant of arrest that the ICC has issued," Magwenya said.

"It remains South Africa's commitment and very strong desire that the conflict in Ukraine is resolved peacefully through negotiations."

(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by David Goodman)

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Did Putin visit South Africa despite his arrest warrant? Here's why it's fake news

Issued on: 14/04/2023 - 22:53

The International Criminal Court last month issued an international arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin for war crimes in Ukraine. But viral videos show him in South Africa - so did the Russian president defy his ICC arrest warrant? In this edition of Truth or Fake with Vedika Bahl we explain why the videos claiming he did are false.

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South Africa says it doesn't want Putin to visit later this summer because it doesn't want to have to arrest him

• South African officials are hoping Russian President Vladimir Putin does not visit next month.
• Putin is set to attend a BRICS summit in Johannesburg, despite an international arrest warrant.
• "We would be happy if he doesn't come," South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile said Friday.

The government of South Africa really hopes that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not show up at the meeting it's hosting next month, a top official said in an interview published Friday, fearing that it could result in an international incident.

"We would be happy if he doesn't come," South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile told the Mail & Guardian .

That sentiment comes after South Africa, in January, said that Putin was welcome to attend the next BRICS summit in Johannesburg, which begins Aug. 22. BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the governments of which have formed a rival to the G7 alliance of developed economies.

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Russia has frequently cast the grouping as a challenge to Western hegemony and a key to a future "multipolar" world no longer dominated by the United States or Europe. In February, it held joint naval exercises with China and South Africa just off the latter's coast.

But, in March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president, accusing him of overseeing war crimes in Ukraine, namely the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia. Countries that signed the treaty creating the court, known as the Rome Statute, are obligated to "immediately take steps" to detain suspects.

"We understand we are bound by the Rome Statute," Mashatile said, "but we can't invite someone, and then arrest him."

He expanded on that point in a separate interview with the South African outlet News24.

"It's almost like you invite your friend to your house, and then arrest them. That's why for us, his not coming is the best solution. The Russians are not happy, though. They want him to come," he said.

A spokesperson for Mashatile later told the Financial Times that the South African government is "speaking to President Putin directly on the ICC problem."

Putin attended last year's BRICS summit, hosted by China, virtually. The Kremlin has not said whether he will try to attend the next meeting in person.

Have a news tip? Email this reporter: [email protected]

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Putin visits South Africa

International relations & cooperation," Media Programme for State Visit to South Africa by Russian President, Vladimir Putin, Tuesday, 5 - Wednesday, 6 September 200 6", from International relations & cooperation ,[Online], available at www.dfa.gov.za [Accessed : 23 August 2013]|

south Africa Government online, " Media programme for state visit to South Africa by Russian President, Vladimir Putin, Tuesday, 5 - Wednesday, 6 September 200 6" from south Africa Government online ,[online], available at www.gov.za [Accessed : 23 August 2013]

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Political criticism of ICC won't hold legal water if Putin visits South Africa: expert Eusebius on TimesLIVE

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Respected former Wits university legal academic Dr James Grant joined Eusebius McKaiser on his TimesLIVE podcast to focus on whether it is compulsory for the government to arrest Russian president Vladimir Putin should he come to South Africa. Grant argued that while there are legal complexities, besides the obvious geopolitical debates on the issue, in the end, South Africa would struggle to persuade a court that it has no obligation to comply with the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). South Africa domesticated the Rome Statute in 2000 after signing it in 1998 and it is now part and parcel of enforceable South African law. Grant examined the apparent tension between customary international law that allows heads of state diplomatic immunity and the status of a Supreme Court of Appeal judgment in the case of Omar al-Bashir. South Africa was found legally wanting for not arresting the former Sudanese president. Grant argues that though there is internal ambiguity within the Rome Statute and a hierarchy of sources of law has not been resolved definitively and jurisprudentially, South Africa will nevertheless have to be guided by the SCA's judgment in the al-Bashir case as it is, effectively, law. Grant ended his conversation with McKaiser by explaining that political criticism of the ICC is insufficient to assist the government in avoiding diplomatic fallout with Russia. It must respect South African law or support someone accused of heinous crimes by the ICC, of which it is a member. Produced by Bulelani Nonyukela.

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Blinken meets Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Friday for talks across a range of complex issues, including deepening strains over China's backing of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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The Crackdown on Student Protesters

Columbia university is at the center of a growing showdown over the war in gaza and the limits of free speech..

Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Featuring Nicholas Fandos

Produced by Sydney Harper ,  Asthaa Chaturvedi ,  Olivia Natt ,  Nina Feldman and Summer Thomad

With Michael Simon Johnson

Edited by Devon Taylor and Lisa Chow

Original music by Marion Lozano and Dan Powell

Engineered by Chris Wood

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Columbia University has become the epicenter of a growing showdown between student protesters, college administrators and Congress over the war in Gaza and the limits of free speech.

Nicholas Fandos, who covers New York politics and government for The Times, walks us through the intense week at the university. And Isabella Ramírez, the editor in chief of Columbia’s undergraduate newspaper, explains what it has all looked like to a student on campus.

On today’s episode

Nicholas Fandos , who covers New York politics and government for The New York Times

Isabella Ramírez , editor in chief of The Columbia Daily Spectator

Background reading

Inside the week that shook Columbia University .

The protests at the university continued after more than 100 arrests.

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Research help by Susan Lee .

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Nicholas Fandos is a Times reporter covering New York politics and government. More about Nicholas Fandos

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