Vladimir Putin is not flying to Brazil for next month’s BRICS summit because of the outstanding International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against the Russian president, the Kremlin stated on Wednesday.
ICC Wants Putin Over Ukraine Deportations
Putin is wanted by the Hague-based ICC for reportedly illegally deporting Ukrainian children since he sent his troops into Ukraine in 2022.
“This is due to certain difficulties in the context of the ICC’s requirements,” he added.
Kremlin assistant Yuri Ushakov said in a briefing with reporters that Putin would attend the July 6-7 BRICS leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro through a video link.
Putin Continues to Praise BRICS as Counterweight to the West
Putin regularly praises the BRICS club as a force to check what he criticizes as Western hegemony on the international stage.
Loose association of nations called after initial members Brazil, Russia, India and China, its members commit to increasing trade and cooperation, although it is not a trade agreement and has minimal institutional links.
Brazil’s ICC Membership a Barrier to Putin’s Visit
Brazil is a signatory to the ICC and would thus be bound to implement the arrest warrant on Putin, if he had attended the summit.
The Kremlin leader took a VIP visit to Mongolia last year, defying the warrant to arrest him his first visit to an ICC member state since the Hague court issued the arrest warrant in 2023. The court and the European Union criticized Ulaanbaatar for allowing Putin to make the trip there.
