President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said Putin will not attend the conference “by mutual agreement,” adding that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would visit instead. In the months following, South African lawmakers have made contradictory statements over the country’s obligation to arrest Putin should he attend the summit. As a signatory to the Rome statute, the treaty governing the Hague court, South Africa is compelled to arrest individuals indicted by the ICC. Western diplomats have criticized South African lawmakers for their perceived solidarity with Russia since the start of that conflict. “I must highlight, for the sake of transparency, that South Africa has obvious problems with executing a request to arrest and surrender President Putin,” Ramaphosa said, according to the court’s document.

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Persons: Vladimir Putin, Cyril Ramaphosa’s, Putin, Sergei Lavrov, Maria Lvova, Ramaphosa, “, ” Ramaphosa, Dmitry Peskov, Ramaphosa’s, ” Peskov, ”, Omar al, Bashir Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Russian, Criminal Court, ICC, Hague, United Nations General, Cape Town Locations: Johannesburg, Ukraine, Brazil, India, China, Russian, Russia, Rome, South Africa, Cape, Africa, Darfur