Refer to South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandora on this matter he told BBC English station.

According to Pandora, the issue needs to be discussed with Russia after a cabinet discussion, whose former president Dmitry Medvedev said any attempt to arrest Putin would be tantamount to declaring war on Moscow.

South Africa is one of 120 countries in the world that have the obligation to detain anyone who has issued an ICC arrest warrant upon entering their territory. Last week, the Hague Court extradited him to Putin and Kremlin deputy Maria Lvovova-Belovova, in connection with the abduction of Ukrainian children from the occupied territories to Russia.

“South Africa should look at the provisions of our current legislation. We must also discuss the situation as a government and with our colleagues in Russia and then determine the next course of action,” Minister Pandorová said in an interview with state television SABC. South Africa took a neutral position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rejected calls from the West to condemn Moscow’s actions, with whom he maintains a close relationship.

The Russian Foreign Ministry responded to the issuance of the arrest warrant by saying it “has no significance” and that it has “no obligation to the ICC”. The court in The Hague recognized more than 120 countries, except for Russia, and even the United States, for example, did not agree to its jurisdiction.

Putin will attend the BRICS summit in South Africa in August, whose other members include China, India and Brazil in addition to South Africa and Russia. Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February, Russian presidents have visited only eight countries, none of which fall under the ICC’s jurisdiction.

South Africa faced criticism in 2015 for allowing then Sudanese President Omar Bashir to leave its territory without detaining him, despite an international arrest warrant. Bashir then traveled to the country for the African Union summit. The South African government claims that he is protected by diplomatic immunity.

A Pretoria court later issued a preliminary order during Bashir’s stay at the top, forbidding authorities from letting him leave the territory of the Republic of South Africa until the court ruled on his arrest. But the hearing was adjourned and the president’s plane meanwhile left the country. Hours after Bashir’s departure, the Supreme Court finally ordered his arrest.