The international arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin puts “sticks in the wheels” of South Africa, which will host the BRICS summit in August in the presence of the Russian president, Cyril Ramaphosa, spokesman for the South African president, said on Wednesday, AFP and News.ro reported.

“All the heads of state should be present at the summit, but now we are stuck because of the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court (ICC),” Vincent Magwenya, a representative of the African president, told a press conference.

“It requires other provisions to see how it is taken into account and those provisions are in the process of being developed. After they are accepted, the necessary announcements will be made,” he said, without giving further details.

This southern African country, which maintains close relations with Russia, hosts the BRICS summit in August, a group of countries that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

In March, the International Criminal Court in The Hague (Netherlands) issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for the “deportation” of Ukrainian children to Russia.

South Africa is a member of the ICC and is obliged to arrest the head of the Russian state upon his arrival in the country.

This country has been criticized since the beginning of the Russian war because of its proximity to Moscow.

Pretoria says it is taking a “neutral” position, refuses to join Western calls to condemn Russia and says it wants to maintain dialogue.

In February, South Africa hosted naval exercises with Russia and China off the coast of South Africa.

South Africa’s relationship with Russia dates back to the apartheid era, when the Kremlin supported the ANC in its struggle against the racist regime.

The ISS arrest warrant caused a political outcry in South Africa.

The Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition party, demanded the arrest of Vladimir Putin and appealed to the ICC to compel the Pretoria government.

But left-wing parties, including the South African Communist Party, an ally of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), have called on the government to welcome Vladimir Putin and withdraw from the ICC.