Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will not be arrested if he attends the G-20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro next year.
"No, he will not be arrested," Lula said in an interview with Indian news website Firstpost on Saturday. “If I’m president of Brazil, if he comes to Brazil, there’s no way he will be arrested."
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March, accusing him of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.
Moscow has denied the accusation.
Rome Statute
Putin gave a miss to the G-20 leaders' summit in New Delhi, where India handed over the term presidency to Brazil. He also missed the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa last month.
Brazil a signatory to the Rome Statute which led to the founding of the ICC.
The world's wealthiest nations on Saturday adopted a consensus declaration, which avoided condemning Russia for the war in Ukraine, but called on all states not to use force to seize territory.
It also admitted the African Union (AU) as a permanent member.
