Lavrov will go to the BRICS summit in South Africa instead of Putin

This was announced by the office of the President of South Africa.

«By mutual agreement, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin will not attend the summit, but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister Mr. Sergey Lavrov, » the statement said.

Recall that the Russian president in South Africa faces arrest on the warrant of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The day before, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that arresting the Russian president at the BRICS summit by the country's authorities would be a «reckless, unconstitutional and illegal» decision. This would be tantamount to «declaring war on Russia.»

The statement of the head of South Africa was commented on Wednesday by the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov. According to him, there was no conversation between the heads of state about this.

«No one gave anyone anything to understand. In this world, it is absolutely clear to everyone what an attempt to encroach on the head of the Russian state means. Therefore, there is no need to explain anything to anyone here, » Dmitry Peskov commented. His words are quoted by RIA Novosti.