US State Department on Putin's decision not to go to BRICS summit: he has become an international pariah
The US State Department has commented on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision not to go to the BRICS summit in the Republic of South Africa in person, but to send Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov instead.
Source: Matthew Miller, US Department of State Spokesperson, during a briefing
Miller emphasised that Putin's decision not to go shows that the international authority of the Russian Federation has deteriorated, and the head of the Kremlin himself has become an "international pariah."
Quote: "And there is no better example, no better illustration of its (Russia’s) vastly diminished standing in the world, than that the president of Russia, President Putin, can hardly leave his own borders now. He’s an international pariah who can barely leave his own borders for fear of arrest," Miller noted.
Background:
- On 18 July, the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reported that Putin will not attend the BRICS summit, where he should be arrested under a warrant from the International Criminal Court, "by mutual agreement".
- The Russian president’s spokesman, Dmitriy Peskov, said that Putin will speak at the summit via video conference and that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will go to South Africa instead.
- There was still uncertainty about whether the Russian leader would go to the summit since South Africa is a party to the Rome Statute and would be obliged to arrest Putin under a warrant from the International Criminal Court. Previously, Ramaphosa had publicly stated that he expected Vladimir Putin to attend the BRICS summit.
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