South Africa has announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not participate in the15th BRICS summit, which is scheduled to be held in Johannesburg next August 22.
Russia will instead be represented by its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Johannesburg summit, alongside the leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Africa, the presidency said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Earlier, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the next BRICS summit will not be virtual.
"The BRICS summit, scheduled to be held next August in Johannesburg, will be physical and not virtual," Ramaphosa said, noting that the organization has not physical meetings for nearly three years.
Moreover, South Africa had announced that the heads of all African countries were invited to attend the summit, noting that the summit will pay special attention to Africa and the search for new forms of partnership.
The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Melissa Alema, said on June 29 that her country hopes to obtain a positive decision from the BRICS member states regarding its application to join the bloc.
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