Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the BRICS summit in South Africa, as per mutual agreement, where he could have faced arrest under an International Criminal Court (ICC) order.

The summit will be attended by the leaders of Brazil, India, China, and South Africa.

"By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the Summit but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister, Mr Sergey Lavrov," stated the offcie of Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa.

There was uncertainty about whether the Russian leader would attend the summit, as South Africa is a party to the Rome Statute and would be obliged to arrest Putin under the ICC order. Previously, South African President Ramaphosa had publicly stated that he expected Vladimir Putin to participate in the BRICS summit.

Last week, there were reports that South Africa asked Russia to send Lavrov instead of Putin, but they received a refusal.