The South African government is looking for a way out of the difficult situation associated with the holding of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit in August, which will be attended by the leaders of the group, while the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin.

In March, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for the war crime of “deporting” children from Ukraine to Russia.

This issue was discussed today by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Finnish President Sauli Niinistio, who is on a visit to Pretoria.

“The ruling party has decided that it is expedient for South Africa to withdraw from the ICC,” Ramaphosa said at a press conference after Finnish President Sauli Niinisto’s visit.

“We continue to study the situation that has arisen,” Ramaphosa said. “Once we make a decision, we will communicate it immediately,” he said.

South Africa already wanted to withdraw from the ICC in 2016 following a visit by former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Pretoria then refused to arrest him, although the ICC also issued a warrant for his arrest.

The South African High Court then ruled that withdrawal from the ICC was unconstitutional and the country continued to abide by the provisions of the Rome Statute. The execution of ICC decisions is mandatory for countries that have signed the Rome Statute, including the Republic of South Africa.

One of the ways for South Africa, if it does not want to enter into a confrontation with Russia, is to immediately withdraw from the ICC. However, this requires a decision by the country’s parliament, in which the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party has a majority.

Preliminary debates over the weekend on the issue showed that most party members see leaving the ICC as the logical solution.

According to South African observers, there is nothing surprising in this case.

South Africa has not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying it would like to remain neutral in the conflict, and an attempt to evade the ICC arrest warrant is expected.

However, it is not yet clear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the summit. At the end of March, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that at the moment there was no decision on Putin’s participation.

Yesterday he announced that President Vladimir Putin would decide whether to go to the BRICS summit in South Africa in August closer to the time of the summit.

Source: APE-MPE, AFP, Reuters.