Russian president Vladimir Putin is reportedly no no longer coming to South Africa for the Brics summit.
It is understood that if Putin does not make the trip he is likely to send foreign minister Sergey Lavrov instead.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and Putin met privately in St Petersburg last weekend after talks with a delegation of African leaders attempting to mediate peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
A senior government official with intimate knowledge of the bilateral meeting said Putin, who has a warrant of arrest issued against him by the International Criminal Court, is not opposed to a compromise.
Pretoria found itself between a rock and a hard place in the past few months as pressure mounted over Putin’s possible visit to the summit in Johannesburg, where South Africa would be legally obliged to arrest him.
Earlier this month, it emerged that South Africa had been trying to find solutions to hold the summit without Putin, while moving it to another country was seen as a last resort.
Ramaphosa spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping, fuelling speculation that Pretoria was considering seeking another venue for the summit to avoid a diplomatic crisis.
Government insiders say Ramaphosa used last week’s peace tour to Russia and Ukraine to persuade Putin not to attend the summit in person.
Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said Ramaphosa would make an announcement “about the hosting of Brics and all related matters”.
Ramaphosa is said to have tabled three options to Putin: skip the event and send a representative; attend the summit virtually; or have it moved to another country, preferably China.
“At this stage he [Putin] thinks that it will send the wrong message if South Africa is to move the summit,” said one insider.
In the talks he made it clear that he doesn’t want to sabotage our summit. And, as a compromise, he would be willing to send foreign minister Lavrov to lead the Russian delegation while he remains in Moscow.
