Ukraine urges Brazil to arrest Putin if he attends G20 summit

Ukraine’s top prosecutor said he had received intelligence that Russian President Vladimir Putin might attend the G20 summit in Brazil next month, and called on the country’s authorities to execute an arrest warrant against him if he presented.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023, about a year after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, charging him with the war crime of expel children.

Russia denies allegations of war crimes and the Kremlin has rejected the ICC arrest warrant, calling it “null and void.”

Asked if a decision had been made on Putin’s participation in the meeting of the world’s top 20 economies, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday, October 14: “No. When a decision will be made, we will let you know.”

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin told Reuters in an interview that “it is important for the international community to remain united and hold Putin accountable.”

“Due to reports that Putin may attend the G20 summit in Brazil, I would like to reiterate that the Brazilian authorities, as a state party to the Rome Statute, have an obligation to arrest him if he dares to go there,” Kostin said, referring to the treaty that created the ICC.

“I sincerely hope that Brazil will stop it, thereby reaffirming its status as a democracy and the rule of law,” he said.

Failure to do so risks setting a precedent under which leaders accused of crimes could travel with impunity, he said.

Brazil sent Putin a standard invitation for the G20 meetings in Rio de Janeiro on November 18 and 19, but received no indication that he planned to attend, according to two Brazilian government officials.

The ICC prosecutor’s office declined to comment.

A court spokesperson reiterated that it relies on state parties and other partners to carry out its decisions, including arrest warrants. Member states “have an obligation to cooperate in accordance” with the Court’s founding treaty, said spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah.

Among the six Russian officials targeted by ICC arrest warrants are Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, as well as Viktor Sokolov and Sergei Kobylash, accused of having directed attacks against civilian sites.

Despite his arrest warrant from the ICC, Putin in September made an official state visit to Mongolia, whose failure to arrest him was criticized by Ukraine as a blow to international justice.

Last year, however, Putin stayed away from a meeting of BRICS countries in South Africa and attended it online.

The ICC, which has 124 member states, was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes of aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so themselves. -themselves.