After New Delhi, Rio de Jenerio is next to take over the presidency of G20 in December 2023. As such Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated on Saturday that if Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Group of 20 gathering in Rio de Janeiro next year, he will not be detained. According to media reports Lula said that Putin will be invited to next year’s gathering, and that he wanted to attend a BRICS bloc of developing nations meeting in Russia before the Rio meeting.
Putin was conspicuously absent from the G20 Summit, which took place in New Delhi over two days. He also skipped the BRICS conference in Johannesburg due to a disagreement over whether South Africa would be required to arrest Putin under an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant.
“I believe that Putin can go easily to Brazil,” Lula said. “What I can say to you is that if I’m president of Brazil, and he comes to Brazil, there’s no way he will be arrested.”
“We enjoy peace and we like to treat people well. So I believe Putin can go easily to Brazil,” Lula added. Lula also said that he would attend a BRICS bloc of developing nations summit in Russia next year.
In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin, accusing him of committing a war crime by illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia has denied that its forces committed war crimes or abducted Ukrainian youngsters forcibly. The Kremlin, however, insists the warrant against Putin is “void”.
Putin was not present at many international gatherings this year and also did not attend BRICS Summit and G20 Summit in Johannesburg and New Delhi respectively. Bothn these events were attended by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in his place.
Brazil signed the Rome Statute, which resulted in the establishment of the ICC. Lula’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The G20 nations reached a consensus agreement on Saturday that avoided blaming Russia for the Ukraine crisis but urged all states not to use force to seize territory.
As G20 Summit in New Delhi has entered it’s second day, India’s time for G20 presidency in also coming to an end in two months following which Brazil will take over the presidency.
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