Rio: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Saturday said that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would not be arrested if he attends the Group of 20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro next year, reported Reuters citing Firstpost. In an interview on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Delhi, Lula said that the Russian president will be invited for next year’s event. Notably, Brazil will take over the G20 presidency from India this year and will hold the summit event in 2024.
“I believe that Putin can go easily to Brazil,” Lula said, as quoted by Reuters. “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.”
The concern comes after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Now, since Brazil is a signatory to the Rome Statute which led to the founding of the ICC, it is ‘obliged’ to detain and transfer Putin if he sets foot on their territory.
Not only Brazil but all the 123 members of the ICC are obliged to do the same. Neither Russia, nor China, the US nor India are part of the group.
However, Russia has denied that its forces have engaged in war crimes, or forcibly taken Ukrainian children.
Putin has continuously skipped international gatherings, including the G20 Summit in Delhi where he sent Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to represent Moscow.
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