Brazil's Lula assures Putin won't be arrested if he attends G20 in Rio
Even though the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes, Lula states that the Russian leader will not be apprehended if he attends the G20 Summit in Brazil next year.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine, which Russia denies. / Photo: Reuters Archive
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would not be arrested in Brazil if he attended the Group of 20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro next year.
Interviewed on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in New Delhi by news show Firstpost, Lula said on Saturday that Putin would be invited to next year's event, adding that he himself planned to attend a BRICS bloc of developing nations meeting due in Russia before the Rio meeting.
"I believe that Putin can go easily to Brazil," Lula said. "What I can say to you is that if I'm president of Brazil, and he comes to Brazil, there's no way he will be arrested."
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia has denied its forces have engaged in war crimes, or forcibly taken Ukrainian children.
Putin has repeatedly skipped international gatherings and was not present at the G20 get-together in New Delhi, sending Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Brazil is a signatory to the Rome Statute which led to the founding of the ICC. Lula's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Saturday, the G20 nations adopted a consensus declaration that avoided condemning Russia for the war in Ukraine but called on all states not to use force to grab territory.
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