Putin will not travel to BRICS summit in Brazil due to ICC warrant: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a meeting of the Council of Legislators at the Federal Assembly in Saint Petersburg, Russia April 27, 2022. — Reuters

Vladimir Putin will not travel to Brazil for next month’s BRICS summit due to the outstanding International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant on the Russian president, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

Putin is wanted by the Hague-based ICC for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children since he ordered his troops into the country in 2022.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters Putin would participate in the July 6-7 BRICS heads of state summit in Rio de Janeiro via video link. “This is due to certain difficulties in the context of the ICC’s requirements,” he added.

Putin routinely hails the BRICS club as a counterweight to what he blasts as Western hegemony on the world stage.

A loose grouping of countries named after founding members Brazil, Russia, India and China, its members pledge to boost trade and cooperation, though it is not a trade pact and has few institutional ties.

Brazil is a member of the ICC and would therefore be obligated to execute the arrest warrant on Putin, should he have travelled to the summit.

The Kremlin chief last year made a high-profile trip to Mongolia, in a show of defiance against the order to detain him — his first trip to an ICC member since the Hague-based court issued its warrant in 2023.

Ulaanbaatar came in for criticism from the court and the European Union for letting Putin travel there.