Vladimir Putin is not traveling to the Brics summit in Johannesburg. While this solves a problem for South Africa, Brazil and India also face a dilemma. How to deal with the warmonger?
The most important things at a glance
They exist in many families: the people who are reluctant to be invited to family celebrations. Because they misbehave, because they keep causing trouble. The Brics countries also currently have a member who is reluctant to be invited to summits: Vladimir Putin.
The Russian president’s invasion of Ukraine has long since become a problem for the confederation of emerging economies. Even for countries like China that remain with Russia and for strategic reasons do not want the Russian army to lose the war in Ukraine.
Despite this, the states of the Brics union – Brazil, India, China and South Africa – do not want to cut their alliance with Russia. Important trade relations and strategic interests further connect them with Moscow.
But for how much longer? Because the longer the war lasts, the greater the pressure that even Putin’s last allies could turn their backs on him. t-online with an overview of how the emerging economies currently feel about Putin.
1. South Africa
The South African government should breathe a sigh of relief right now. Putin canceled his participation in the Brics summit on August 22 in Johannesburg, thereby solving a dilemma for South Africa. The International Criminal Court (ICC) launched investigations into war crimes in Ukraine shortly after the Russian war of aggression began in February 2022. An arrest warrant has been issued against Putin for war crimes since mid-March.
The result: South Africa should have arrested Putin as soon as he set foot on South African soil because the country recognizes the ICC.
Nerves were on edge in South Africa for many months, and at times the country even toyed with the idea of leaving the ICC. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has asked the ICC not to arrest Putin, saying it would be “a declaration of war.”
But the Kremlin chief’s refusal did not solve the problem: South Africa continues to see itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict, but is still allied with Russia. First, South African Foreign Minister Grace Pandor called on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine. President Ramaphosa, on the other hand, did not condemn the Russian invasion.
South Africa’s defense minister, Thandi Modise, continued to attend conferences in Moscow after the war broke out, and South Africa held military maneuvers along with Russia and China. A chaotic lurch course.
There are many reasons for this intact alliance: South Africa credits the Russians with their support during apartheid, the historian Irina Filatova told ZDF in February. “Russia never had colonies in Africa.” The Soviet Union provided arms and military training to the African National Congress (ANC) in its fight against Western colonialism. In addition to historical ties, South Africa has economic and military dependencies on Russia.
That now seems to be changing after a South African delegation visited Bucha in Ukraine and was able to get an idea of Russian war crimes. That changed a lot, Western diplomats claim in an interview with t-online.
