On Tuesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that arresting Russian President Vladimir Putin during his participation at the BRICS economic summit, next month would be a "declaration of war" by South Africa.
Putin is the subject of a warrant of arrest by the International Criminal Court related to allegations of war crimes in Ukraine which mean that South Africa would be obligated to arrest Putin if he visits the country.
Ramaphosa said: “I must highlight, for the sake of transparency, that South Africa has obvious problems with executing a request to arrest and surrender President Putin,” asserting: “Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting president would be a declaration of war.”
He added: “It would be inconsistent with our Constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia."
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