It is up to the Brazilian judiciary to decide whether to arrest Putin if Putin attends the summit in Rio de Janeiro, Lula told the press in New Delhi, where he took part in the G20 summit. The ICC in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March on suspicion of Russia’s deportation of Ukrainian children. On Saturday, Lula assured in an interview with the First Post news program that Putin would under no circumstances be arrested if he attended the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in person. “If Putin decides to attend next year’s summit, it will be in the power of the judiciary to decide on a possible arrest, and not that of my government,” Lula said.
A country that, like Brazil and around 120 others, has signed the Rome Statute establishing the ICC is obliged to arrest Putin upon his entry. Russia, but also the USA, China, India, Turkey and other countries do not support the ICC. Lula now said Brazil’s support to the ICC must be reviewed if certain countries do not provide it. “I want to know why the United States, India and China did not sign the ICC treaty, and why our country signed it,” Lula said.