President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not attend the much-anticipated BRICS summit starting in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
“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 Mr Sergey Lavrov,” Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said in July.
Ramaphosa stated that he had been engaging with all stakeholders for some time, with the consultation taking place during the BRICS Political Parties Dialogue.
Ripples of this have been felt all over the world as other nations speculated why the Russian politician would not show to the group’s meeting.
An analysis by CNN claims that this is because of Putin’s decreasing influence. “Putin will be notably absent from a key global forum this week, the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.
His no-show speaks volumes about Russia’s isolation – and Putin’s shrinking horizons.
The leaders of the other members of the BRICS economic bloc – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, China’s leader Xi Jinping, Brazil’s President Luiz Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – are all expected to be there,” said the media outlet.
It went on to say that while participating in an international talking shop is a simple way to seem to be a player on the world scene, Putin is missing more than just another group photo-op.
According to the analysis Putin is an ardent supporter of a multipolar world order (a distribution of power in which more than two states have similar amounts of power) supporting frameworks like the BRICS as a counterweight to US- and Western-led institutions that have harshly denounced Russia for its actions in Ukraine.
“So why would Putin miss out on another opportunity to promote his vision? Well, for starters, there’s the not-insignificant issue of a warrant from the International Criminal Court. In March, the ICC issued a warrant for Putin and another Russian official for an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia,” read the analysis.
“The ICC warrant put South Africa in a bind: As a signatory to the treaty governing the Hague court, South Africa is obliged to arrest individuals indicted by the ICC. It’s magical thinking to assume that Putin might have been arrested on the tarmac in Johannesburg.”
