"Putin Brazil Visit Information Obtained... Request to Execute Warrant"
Not Executed in Mongolia Either... Likely Difficult in Brazil as Well
With the G20 summit scheduled to take place on the 18th and 19th of next month, Ukraine has demanded that the host country Brazil arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to local media including the Kyiv Independent on the 14th (local time), Andriy Kostin, Ukraine's Prosecutor General, stated that he had obtained information that President Putin might attend the G20 summit and urged Brazilian authorities to execute the arrest warrant against President Putin.
In March last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for President Putin on charges including the illegal migration of Ukrainian children. Since then, Ukraine has continuously requested the execution of the warrant in countries where President Putin is expected to travel abroad.
However, despite the warrant, President Putin visited Mongolia, an ICC member state, earlier last month without being arrested. Foreign media reported that Russia had obtained a non-arrest assurance from Mongolian authorities prior to Putin’s visit.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the treaty establishing the ICC, states that "a State Party in receipt of a request for provisional arrest or surrender shall immediately take the necessary measures to arrest the person." However, there are no sanctions if a State Party refuses to cooperate in executing the warrant.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Kremlin, said it has not been decided whether President Putin will attend the G20 summit in person. Last August, President Putin attended the BRICS summit held in South Africa via video conference.
Considering the precedent set by Mongolia, it is highly likely that President Putin will not be arrested even if he goes to Brazil. Brazilian President Luiz In?cio Lula da Silva stated last year that as long as he is president, there is no reason for President Putin to be arrested if he attends the G20 summit. After facing criticism, he changed his stance, saying, "The decision should be made by the courts." He also added, "Brazil will review the process of why it signed the ICC statute."
This appears to be because Brazil is a friendly country to Russia, which co-leads the BRICS group of emerging economies. In May, Brazil, along with China, announced the so-called "six joint understandings" as a solution to the Ukraine war.
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