The BRICS foreign ministers, meeting Thursday in Cape Town ahead of a summit in August whose preparations are dominated by the question of whether or not Vladimir Putin will come to South Africa, called for a “rebalancing” of the world order.
“The world is multipolar, it is rebalancing itself and old ways cannot respond to new situations,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said at the opening of the meeting.
“Our discussions today will focus on the possibilities of strengthening and transforming systems of global governance,” said South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor.
Pretoria has long advocated for the Brics to play a counterbalance in the Western-dominated world order.
Asked by journalists about the presence of the Russian president at the summit in August, the minister confirmed that “an invitation has been sent to the heads of state of the five countries”.
Ms. Pandor added that the South African government, which has not commented on a possible arrest of the Russian head of state, is studying “legal options”.
Vladimir Putin is targeted by an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the war crime of “deporting” Ukrainian children as part of Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine.
A member of the ICC, South Africa is theoretically supposed to arrest the Russian president if he enters its soil. However, the two countries maintain close ties. Pretoria has refused to condemn Moscow since the start of the war in Ukraine, claiming to hold a neutral position and wanting to favor dialogue, which worries the international scene.
In April, Cyril Ramaphosa felt that the ICC arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin put South Africa “on the road”.
This week, the South African government granted diplomatic immunity to officials attending the BRICS summit, saying it is a standard measure for organizing international conferences.