Putin missed the G20 summit in India, avoiding the risk of criminal detention under an ICC warrant for war crimes.
Brazil’s president has withdrawn his personal guarantee that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be arrested if he attends next year’s Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, saying it is up to the judiciary to decide.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also questioned Brazil’s membership of the United Nations war crimes court, saying on Monday that „developing countries often sign things that harm them.”
„Why are we members, but the United States, not Russia, not India, not China,” Lula said. “I’m not saying I’m going to leave the court. I would like to know why Brazil signed up.
Putin skipped this year’s G20 meeting in the Indian capital, New Delhi, to avoid potential political interference and any risk of criminal detention under an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant.
In March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin on war charges of illegally deporting Ukrainian children. The Kremlin denies the allegations, insisting the warrant against Putin is „invalid”.
In May, Russia issued an arrest warrant for Karim Khan, a prosecutor at the Hague-based war crimes tribunal, and he was placed on a „wanted list” by its Ministry of Internal Affairs.
’Judiciary will decide’
Brazil is a signatory to the Rome Statute, which led to the establishment of the ICC. Lula raised eyebrows over the weekend when he told Indian news network Firstpost: “If I were the president of Brazil and he [Putin] Arriving in Brazil, there is no way he will be arrested.
At a press conference in Brazil on Monday, he reversed course: „I don’t know if Brazilian justice will stop him. It is the judiciary that takes the decision, not the government,” he said.
Putin has skipped recent international meetings and instead sent his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to New Delhi for the September 9-10 G20 meeting, even though India is not a signatory to the ICC.
On Saturday, the G20 nations adopted a declaration refraining from condemning Moscow for the war in Ukraine.
The next summit is scheduled for November 2024 in Rio de Janeiro and Lula said he hoped „the war will be over by then”.