President says ICC warrant could be a distraction, but downplays risk of arrest given ‘warm’ relations with Brazil.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he will not attend next month’s G20 summit in Brazil while downplaying the risk of his arrest under an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant.

Putin said on Friday that his presence would “wreck” the summit, with “conversations” likely to revolve around the ICC warrant issued last year over his alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

Ukraine has urged Brazil, a member state of the ICC, to arrest Putin if he travels there for the event scheduled for November 18-19.

However, Putin dismissed the threat, saying Russia could sign a bilateral agreement with Brazil to bypass the ICC’s arrest warrant.

“Decisions of this kind are very easy to circumvent, it is enough to sign an intergovernmental agreement and that’s it. The jurisdiction of the ICC will be limited,” he said, alluding to his “very warm, good relations” with Brazil.

“We are adults so we will find someone in Russia who will worthily present the interests of our country in Brazil,” he added.

Russia, which is not a signatory to the ICC, strongly denies allegations against Putin over the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children after Moscow launched its offensive in 2022.

Putin visited Mongolia in September without any issues despite the country being a member of the ICC and, therefore, obliged to detain individuals sought by the court.

However, last year, he skipped a meeting with the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) group of emerging economies in South Africa.

‘Dangerous provocation’

Speaking ahead of an upcoming meeting of the BRICS group in the Russian city of Kazan on October 22-24, Putin addressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s remarks the previous day on Ukraine needing nuclear weapons or NATO membership for its security.

Zelenskyy, who had been recalling a conversation with US presidential candidate Donald Trump, later clarified that he had not meant Ukraine was preparing to build a nuclear weapon.

Ukraine inherited nuclear weapons after the breakup of the Soviet Union but voluntarily relinquished them in the 1990s in return for guarantees of its territorial integrity, a deal it says Moscow broke by invading its land.

Putin labelled Zelenskyy’s comments as “a dangerous provocation”. “Any step in this direction will be met with a corresponding reaction,” he said. “Russia will not allow this to happen, no matter what.”

Putin also said he saw a role for Russia in “the search for compromises” in the conflict in the Middle East.

“We are in contact with Israel, we are in contact with Iran. We have quite trusting relations. And we would very much like this endless exchange of blows to be stopped at some point,” he said.

“If this is in demand, we are ready to do everything in our power in contact with both sides to help find these compromises.”