PUTIN TO SKIP G20 SUMMIT IN SOUTH AFRICA – KREMLIN

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not travel to South Africa for a G20 summit in Johannesburg on November 22-23, but that Russia would be represented at a high level.

The G20, a grouping of 19 countries as well as the European Union and the African Union, is deeply divided on key issues from Russia’s war in Ukraine to climate change.

South Africa currently holds the G20 presidency, after which the US takes over.

US President Donald Trump said in July that he might skip the G20 leaders’ summit and send someone else to represent the United States, citing his disapproval of South African policies.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously urged Trump to attend the summit.

Trump has taken issue with South African domestic and foreign policies – ranging from its land policy to its case accusing Israel of genocide in its war on Gaza.

Earlier this year, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also boycotted a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in South Africa.

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ICC warrant for Putin

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023, a little over a year after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, accusing him of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.

Russia denies committing war crimes, and the Kremlin — which has not signed the ICC’s founding treaty — declared the warrant invalid.

In 2023, Putin decided not to travel to South Africa for the BRICS summit — one of the countries that could have enforced the warrant. However, last year he was welcomed with a red carpet in Mongolia, despite the country being an ICC member.