JOHANNESBURG – The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, Russia has conveyed to its South African partners that the attendance of French President Emmanuel Macron at the Johannesburg BRICS Summit in August would be deemed “inappropriate.”
According to Russian media, Ryabkov stated that BRICS is an alliance that rejects the use of unilateral sanctions for resolving foreign policy issues, and therefore the presence of Western officials, including Macron, would not be fitting. South Africa, as the current holder of the BRICS presidency, is set to host the summit from August 22-24 in Johannesburg.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna had previously mentioned that Macron would consider participating in the summit if formally invited.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed the lack of understanding regarding the capacity and purpose of Macron’s potential attendance at the summit.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, the ruling ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has stated that the issue of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attendance at the BRICS summit in South Africa will be left in the hands of the government.
The South African government has been dealing with the matter for the past few months, and President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Deputy Paul Mashatile to lead an inter-ministerial committee to address Putin’s visit.
The International Criminal Court has an arrest warrant for Putin related to Russia’s alleged illegal deportation of children from Ukraine. South Africa, as a signatory to the Rome Statute, is bound to arrest war criminals. Reports suggested that South Africa was even attempting to have China host the BRICS summit to avoid Putin’s visit.
Mbalula emphasized that the party’s position is for BRICS to succeed and that they will await the government’s decision on Putin’s attendance.
President Ramaphosa, who recently visited Ukraine and Russia on a peace mission, mentioned that there will be further engagements with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the Russia-Africa summit in July.
