South Africa bars Russian President from G20 summit

By Mark Ogagan

South Africa will not invite Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin (Pictured) to the G20 summit in Johannesburg next November because of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The South African president’s representative, Vincent Magwenya, said the country could not influence the ICC’s decision, which requires countries that have ratified the Rome Statute to arrest Putin.

“The legal situation remains unchanged since the BRICS summit,” he said.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov represented Russia instead of Putin at the summit in Johannesburg last August. The trip was supposed to be the dictator’s first major foreign visit since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine.

On March 17, 2023, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and Russian Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova accusing them of illegally abducting children from Ukraine to Russia since Feb. 24, 2022.

As Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin explained, Putin can be arrested in 123 countries that have ratified the Rome Statute.

The next G20 summit is scheduled to be held in Johannesburg on November 21-22, 2025.