Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to host the next summit of the BRICS alliance of emerging economies. Putin made the offer after he could not attend the event in South Africa this year due to an arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Putin announced that there would be more than 200 political, economic and social events under Russia’s BRICS presidency in the coming year. The ICC warrant, for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, means that Putin would have faced a possible arrest had he attended in person because South Africa is a member of the ICC. Putin used a video address to the summit leaders to reiterate Russian justifications for cancelling a grain export agreement with Ukraine and made sharp criticism of the West and of Kyiv.

Source: Nigerian Tribune August 23, 2023 15:06 UTC