The Kremlin on Thursday defended its decision not to let President Vladimir Putin travel to South Africa next month to attend the BRICS Summit in person, saying Moscow has done this before and the Russian leader will still be able to exchange views with his counterparts from the grouping online.

"We are talking about full participation. It will be both the president's address and — if necessary — participation in an exchange of views,” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to a request to specify the format of Putin’s participation.

BRICS includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The association’s 15th summit will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 22-24.

It will be the first BRICS Summit to be hosted in person since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent global restrictions. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will personally represent Russia at the event. President Putin is facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court's (ICC) for alleged war crimes.

Lavrov has on many occasions represented the country at international events, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, adding that Moscow has adopted this practice in the past.

"It’s up to us to decide and a decision has been made. This practice has been used more than once," she said, commenting on Putin's decision not to attend the summit in person.

When asked if the move stemmed from the ICC arrest warrant against Putin, Zakhrova warned against looking for “hidden meanings." "Russia takes part in many international events this way, like many other countries,” she added.

On March 17, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, alleging that they were responsible for “unlawful deportation” and transfer of population, including children, from Ukraine to Russia.

Moscow has said that since Russia was not party to the ICC Rome Statute, the court’s decisions were legally void for the country.

On Wednesday, South African Presidential Spokesman Vincent Magwenya told Russia's state-owned TASS news agency that Pretoria and Moscow took into consideration South Africa’s obligations under the Rome Statute when deciding on the form of President Putin’s participation in the BRICS summit in August.

"The commitment to South Africa's successful hosting of the summit, the historic nature of this upcoming BRICS summit, and a recognition of South Africa’s legal obligations to the Rome Statute guided the deliberations over the participation of Russia during the summit,” Magwenya said in response to a question.

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