The president of Brazil said this Monday that he will review his country’s position on the status of the International Criminal Court (ICC), after guaranteeing that he will not allow the detention of the Russian leader in Brazilian territory.
“The role of the International Criminal Court must be reviewed (…). I will study this issue,” he said at a press conference in New Delhi, when asked about the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin being detained if he decides to participate in the G20 summit, which will take place in 2024 in Brazil.
Putin is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in March on suspicion of war crimes over the deportation of Ukrainian children.
Since then he has not traveled to all countries and has missed international meetings such as the G20 summit, which ended today in New Delhi, where he was represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Lula da Silva had previously guaranteed, in an interview with Indian television, that Putin would be invited to visit Rio de Janeiro.
“I can say that if I am president of Brazil and he comes to Brazil, there is no reason for him to be arrested,” Lula said, quoted by the France-Presse news agency (AFP).
Moscow denies the ICC allegations and says the arrest warrant against the Russian leader is “null and void.”
The alleged crimes were committed as part of the war that Russia began with the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Brazil is a signatory to the 1998 Rome Statute, the international treaty that led to the creation of the ICC in 2002, meaning it should, in theory, detain the Russian president if he enters Brazilian territory.
Source: TSF
