Diksia.com - JAKARTA, President Jokowi is unlikely to share the same podium as Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, next August.
The reason for this is that the South African government has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be present at the BRICS summit.
Putin will be replaced by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov due to his status as a fugitive before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
South Africa itself is one of the countries that signed the Rome Statute, the founding foundation of the International Criminal Court.
The obligation to arrest Putin also posed a dilemma for Cyril Ramaphosa’s government.
On Wednesday (07/19/2023) Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidential office confirmed that Putin had agreed not to attend.
This announcement comes after Ramaphosa spoke to the Russian leader over the past few days.
The Ramaphosa government itself issued an invitation to all BRICS leaders before the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023.
The BRICS are an economic bloc made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Earlier, Ramaphosa had objected to the ICC being forced to arrest Putin.
He called Putin’s arrest a declaration of war on Russia.
“Russia has made it clear that the arrest of the incumbent president will be seen as a declaration of war,” Ramaphosa said.
Jokowi will participate in the BRICS countries
Last week, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investments Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said Jokowi would attend the BRICS summit in South Africa in person.
Luhut was seen on Instagram @luhut.padjaitan on Wednesday (07.12.2023) at a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who discussed preparations for the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit.
“This meeting is an important step in preparing for President @jokowi’s attendance at the BRICS summit, which will be held in the third week of August,” Luhut said.
As is known, the BRICS Summit will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa on August 22-24, 2023.
All heads of state and government of the BRICS countries will be present.
The BRICS are an economic bloc made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
It is allegedly a counter-organization of the G7 high-economy countries, consisting of the USA, France, Italy, Great Britain, Japan, Canada and Germany.
Will Indonesia join the BRICS?
Two weeks ago, the envoys of the new BRICS member countries met in South Africa.
TASS media reported Tuesday (6/6/2023) that the BRICS countries will add new members at the upcoming August summit.
Indonesia is said to be a candidate for BRICS membership.
“The BRICS summit scheduled for late August in Johannesburg will discuss who will be admitted and how. Potential candidate countries include, among others, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Turkey, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,” TASS wrote.
