MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday his possible attendance at next month’s summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in Brazil would disrupt the important work there, adding that somebody else would represent Moscow there.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest over alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Kyiv has urged Brazil to arrest the Russian leader if he travels there for the Nov. 18-19 summit.
“I have wonderful friendly relations with President Lula but why would I go there on purpose to disrupt the normal work of this forum,” Putin told reporters, referring to Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Putin also said Russia could sign a bilateral agreement with Brazil to bypass the ICC’s arrest warrant if need be.
“Decisions of this kind are very easy to circumvent, it is enough to sign an intergovernmental agreement and that’s it – the jurisdiction of the ICC will be limited,” Putin said.
Russia, which is not a signatory to the ICC, strongly denies the allegations of war crimes made against it by the court, Ukraine and its Western allies.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Oksana Kobzeva; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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