By: Natasha Archary

President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed that Russian President, Vladimir Putin will not attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in South Africa in August.
This after mounting pressure by the Democratic Alliance calling for Putin to be arrested when he steps foot on SA soil, as ordered by the International Criminal Court (ICC), who declared the Russian Head of State a wanted man for war crimes.
Ramaphosa was ordered by the Gauteng High Court to make public his “confidential” affidavit regarding Putin’s arrest.
In his affidavit, Ramaphosa declared that should South Africa move to arrest Putin, it would be a declaration of war against Russia.
Ramaphosa finalized the country’s readiness to host BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa at the 15th historic Summit after months of consultations.
Via a statement issued by Presidency, Ramaphosa said the decision for Putin to not attend the BRICS summit was a mutual agreement.
“By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the Summit, and the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister, Mr Sergey Lavrov.
In due course a comprehensive statement on the substantive issues to be covered at the Summit and other related foreign policy matters will be issued.
President Ramaphosa is confident that the Summit will be a success and calls on the nation to extend the necessary hospitality to the many delegates who will arrive from various parts of the continent and the globe.”



