BRASÍLIA (Brazil): Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Saturday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will not be arrested in Brazil if he attends the Group of 20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro next year.
Speaking on Firstpost on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in New Delhi, Lula said Putin would be invited to the event next year, adding that he himself plans to attend the BRICS bloc of developing nations meeting ahead of the Rio meeting.
“I believe Putin can easily go to Brazil,” Lula said. “I can tell you that if I am the president of Brazil and he comes to Brazil, there is no way he will be arrested.
In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin and accused him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia has denied that its forces have engaged in war crimes or forcibly removed Ukrainian children.
Putin has repeatedly skipped international meetings and was not present at the G20 meeting in Delhi, where he sent Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Brazil ratified the Rome Statute, which resulted in the creation of the ICC. An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by Lula’s office.
The G20 nations released a joint statement on Saturday that avoided criticising Russia for the conflict in Ukraine but urged all nations to refrain from using force to annexe land.
