President of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin will not attend BRICS summit to be held in the Republic of Southern Africa, APA reports citing statement released by Presidency of the Republic of South Africa.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will represent Russia at the meeting.
"By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the Summit but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov," reads the information.
Notably, South Africa, which will host the summit, faces a dilemma because as a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), it is theoretically required to arrest Putin for war crimes if he attends the summit.