Brazilian President Lula is withdrawing his personal assurance that Putin will not be arrested if he attends the G20 summit in Rio
Brazilian President Lula is withdrawing his personal assurance that Putin will not be arrested if he attends the G20 summit in Rio
- President Lula said: “It is the judiciary that decides, not the government.”
Brazilian President Lula has withdrawn his personal assurance that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be arrested when he attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next year.
Putin missed this year’s meeting in the Indian capital New Delhi to avoid possible political tensions and the risk of criminal detention under an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Brazil is a member of the International Criminal Court, but President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has raised eyebrows after telling Indian news channel Firstpost: “If I am the president of Brazil and he comes to Brazil, there is no possibility of him arresting becomes.”
But today he changed course, telling reporters: “I don’t know if the Brazilian justice system will hold him. “It’s the justice system that decides, not the government.”
Putin skipped recent international meetings and instead sent his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to New Delhi for the September 9-10 G20 meeting, even though India is not a signatory to the ICC.
Brazil’s President Lula, pictured at the G20 summit in New Delhi, has withdrawn his personal assurance that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be arrested if he attends the next G20 summit in Brazil
Putin missed this year’s meeting in the Indian capital New Delhi to avoid possible political tensions and the risk of criminal imprisonment
In March, the ICC announced an arrest warrant for Putin on war crimes charges of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.
The Kremlin denies the allegations and emphasizes that the arrest warrant against Putin is “void.”
On Saturday, the G20 countries adopted a statement that, while not condemning Moscow for the war in Ukraine, called on all states to refrain from using force to conquer territory.
The next summit is scheduled for November 2024 in Rio de Janeiro and Lula said he hopes “the war will be over by then.”
However, he also questioned Brazil’s membership in the war crimes court, adding that “emerging countries often sign things that are harmful to them.”
“I want to know why we are members, but not the United States, not Russia, not India, not China,” Lula said.
“I’m not saying I’m going to leave the court, I just want to know why Brazil is a signatory.”