MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he would not attend the G20 summit in Brazil in November because his arrival would “wreck” the conference.
He insisted that an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for his arrest was not a factor, saying “that rulings of this type can be got around very easily”.
Asked by a journalist in Moscow ahead of a BRICS summit in Russia, the president confirmed he would not attend the G20 summit.
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“So what, I would go there specially in order to disrupt the normal work of this forum?” Putin said, adding that if he arrived, “the conversations would only be about this”.
“We would basically wreck the work of the G20, why?” Putin said.
“We are adults so we will find someone in Russia who will worthily present the interests of our country in Brazil,” he added.
The ICC issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest last year over the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children after Moscow launched its offensive in 2022.
But Putin dismissed the risk of his arrest if he went to Brazil.
Russia and Brazil have “very warm, good relations”, he said.
“Therefore when it comes down to it, it’s enough to write an intergovernmental agreement and nobody is placed in a difficult position”.
Putin went to Mongolia in September without any problem despite the country being a member of the ICC and obliged to detain those sought by the court.
However, he did skip a meeting of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) group in South Africa.
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