President Vladimir Putin will participate by videoconference, but the foreign minister will be present in Brazil, Ushakov told reporters on Wednesday.

He added that Putin’s participation by videoconference is due to “certain difficulties in the context of the requirements of the International Criminal Court (ICC)”, which in 2023 issued an arrest warrant against the Russian leader.

In this context, the Brazilian government could not take a clear position that would allow our president to participate in this meeting, he added.

In March 2023, the ICC, whose jurisdiction Moscow does not recognize, issued arrest warrants against Putin and the Russian presidential commissioner for children’s rights, Lvova-Belova, allegedly holding them responsible for the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia.

The minors were actually evacuated from combat zones, where their lives were in danger, to safer places.

The jurisdiction of the ICC is not recognized by countries, where more than half of the world’s population lives: China, Egypt, United States, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia and Turkey, among others.

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