Russian President Vladimir Putin is running out of places he can travel without getting arrested. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March, now South Africa and Armenia – both Russian allies – told Putin they would have no choice but to lock the leader up if he crossed their borders.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and close ally Maria Lvova-Belova for kidnapping and deporting thousands of Ukrainian children.
So far, only a few dozen Ukrainian kids have been reunited with their families.
South Africa is scheduled to host a summit of the BRICS nations in August. BRICS is a trade organization originally founded by Brazil, Russia, India and China to counter Western influence.
When South Africa joined in 2010, the group became known as BRICS.
Putin usually attends BRICS summits. However, South Africa’s government said its membership in the International Criminal Court would leave the country with no choice but to arrest Putin if he attended in person. Instead, the dictator and wanted war criminal is being encouraged to attend the meeting virtually, like over Teams or Zoom.
Closer to Russia, Armenia is losing patience with the Russian Federation and what it considers Putin’s failure to enforce security agreements in the area. A ranking politician in Armenia’s ruling party said if Putin came to Armenia “he would be arrested,” adding it’s better for Putin to stay in his own country.
The International Criminal Court doesn’t have a way to enforce its warrants, so it must rely on member-nations instead. With the new stances by South Africa and Armenia, the president of Russia could be arrested in 123 different countries.
