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Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend a BRICS nations summit in South Africa next month,
The country’s presidency said this on Wednesday.
Putin’s potential visit has been a thorny diplomatic issue for Pretoria.
He was formally invited to a BRICS summit due to take place in Johannesburg between August 22 and 24, but Pretoria has been under heavy domestic and international pressure not to host him.
The Russian leader is the target of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, a provision that South Africa as an ICC member would be expected to implement were he to set foot in the country.
The other countries’ leaders will all be in attendance, while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will represent Russia instead .
