PRETORIA, July 19. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending the 15th Summit of BRICS nations in Johannesburg on August 22-24, but Russia will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on its website on Wednesday.

"By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the Summit but the Russian Federation will be represented by [the] Foreign Minister, Mr. Sergey Lavrov," the office said in a statement, adding that the summit will be the first to be held in person since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fikile Mbalula, secretary general of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, said on Sunday that South Africa still did not know whether Putin would be attending the event. Commenting on the situation around the arrest warrant for the Russian leader issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Mbalula noted that South Africa is an ICC member country and that Pretoria acknowledges its obligations under the Rome Statute, but that the government was working toward finding a solution. Ultimately, President Ramaphosa, who has been holding consultations to determine the best way out of the situation in the interests of both his country and the BRICS group, will make the final decision and issue a relevant announcement, Mbalula added.

On March 17, the ICC issued arrest warrants for President Putin and Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, alleging that they were responsible for the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children. When commenting on the decision, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out that Russia did not recognize the ICC. In turn, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the decisions of the ICC had no meaning for Russia whatsoever, while any potential arrest warrants would be legally null and void.