PRETORIA, July 20. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate online in all BRICS leaders’ sessions at the group’s upcoming summit in Johannesburg on August 22-24, Anil Suklal, Ambassador-at-Large for Asia and BRICS at the South African Foreign Ministry and South Africa's BRICS Sherpa, said on Thursday.
"He [Russian President Vladimir Putin] will attend the summit virtually. He will be involved in all of the sessions with the leaders, [as well as] in the traditional summit of BRICS leaders on the 23th [of August]. On the 22th [of August], when [the] BRICS leaders are focused on addressing the Business Forum, President Putin will also deliver his remarks virtually. He will participate in all aspects of the summit virtually. And on the 24th [of August], [when] the BRICS Plus [meeting is held], he will also participate. So, although [Foreign] Minister [Sergey] Lavrov will be physically present here, President Putin will be involved in all of the activities of the summit," the South African diplomat said at a briefing.
Suklal pointed out that the participation of BRICS leaders in the work of the group’s annual summits in an online format is not unusual, as over the years numerous BRICS meetings and gatherings have been held online.
The ambassador said that the decision in favor of the Russian president's participation in the BRICS summit in Johannesburg was made by consensus of all of the leaders of the member countries. "This decision wasn’t only taken by [South African] President [Cyril] Ramaphosa and [Russian] President Vladimir Putin," Suklal said, "Over the past several months, our president has been engaged with all of the BRICS leaders on several occasions, has spoken with them personally, discussing this issue." The diplomat recalled that the problem was that the International Criminal Court (ICC) had issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader. He pointed out that the Russian side did not want to create problems for South Africa in connection with the warrant.
The day before, the South African presidential office announced that Putin would not attend the summit by mutual agreement. The Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The BRICS summit will be held on August 22-24 in Johannesburg, South Africa.