Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the summit of the BRICS group of nations in South Africa in August “by mutual agreement.

South Africa’s presidency announced yesterday that Putin of the will not attend the summit, but the Russia will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, however Moscow said he will remotely participate in the high-level talks.

Putin is sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over accusations that Russia unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.

South Africa faced a dilemma in hosting the summit because as a member of the ICC, which issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March for alleged war crimes, it would theoretically be required to arrest him if he were to attend, but ANC seemed hesitant for his arrest.

The dilemma led to intense debate in South Africa and the West about whether the warrant would be executed, given South Africa’s stance of neutrality on the war in Ukraine and South Africa’s historic ties to the Kremlin.