The Republic of South Africa, which has not condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine and maintains contacts with the Russian Federation, reacted to the Hague Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin.
As he writes Reuters, South Africa, to which Putin was expected to go in August for the BRICS summit, is aware of its legal obligations related to the international arrest warrant for the President of the Russian Federation.
"As the government, we are aware of our legal obligations. However, from today until the summit, we will continue to engage with various relevant stakeholders. We take note of the arrest warrant report issued by the ICC. The Republic of South Africa remains committed and very much wants the conflict in Ukraine to be resolved peacefully, through negotiations," said Vincent Magwenya, the press secretary of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Vincent Magwenya.
South Africa did not condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The country also "abstained" during the vote the resolution on comprehensive, just and long-term peace in Ukraine proposed by Kyiv and its partners and adopted by the UN General Assembly. The text of the resolution expresses a persistent appeal to Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its troops from the territory of Ukraine.
Also, during the full-scale war in Ukraine, South Africa, which is a member of the G20, continues to cooperate with the Russians in the military sphere. At the end of February, joint naval maneuvers of Russia, China and South Africa took place in the Indian Ocean.
We will remind, last week the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued a warrant for arrest Vladimir Putin and the Commissioner for Children's Rights in Russia Maria Lvova-Belova, who are considered responsible for the deportation of Ukrainian adults and children to the Russian Federation.
Therefore, the states that are parties to the Rome Statute (there are 123 of them, and South Africa is among them), after issuing such a warrant of the President of Russia, must arrest him if he appears on their territory.
Experts also noted that we should not expect significant results in bringing Putin to justice in the near future. At the same time, as the former president of the International Criminal Court (2018-2021) Chile Eboe-Osuji emphasized, the arrest warrant is "really very important." In particular, because it shows that no one is above international law. In addition, sanctions will not be lifted from Russia until Putin is extradited to The Hague.
The Russian authorities declared that the decision was unacceptable. At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities consider it historical.
Germany became the first country to announce its readiness to arrest Putin.
