Brazil is obliged to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin when he attends the Group of 20 nations (G20) summit in Rio de Janeiro next month, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin told Reuters in an interview published on October 14.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March 2023 due to his role in the terrorist militia Deportation of Ukrainian children. Brazil is a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC and is therefore obliged to detain Putin if he enters the country.

Intelligence reports suggest Putin may attend the upcoming summit, Kostin told Reuters.

“It is important for the international community to be united and hold Putin accountable,” Kostin said.

Brazil has sent Putin a standard invitation to the summit where the heads of state of the G20 countries will meet in Rio de Janeiro on November 18-19. There was no indication that Putin planned to attend, two Brazilian government officials told Reuters.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on October 14 that no decision had yet been made about Putin’s participation in the conference.

Given “the information that Putin may attend the G20 summit in Brazil, I would like to emphasize once again that the Brazilian authorities, as a state party to the Rome Statute, are obliged to arrest him if he dares to visit,” Kostin said .

“I really hope that Brazil arrests him and thereby reaffirms its status as a democracy and a constitutional state.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in September 2023 that the decision to detain Putin at the G20 summit would be left to his country’s judiciary.

Putin visited Mongolia, an ICC member state, in September this year, his first such visit since the publication of his arrest warrant. Despite Mongolia’s obligation under international law to arrest Putin, the Russian president received a warm welcome in Ulaanbaatar.

Ukrainian lawmakers described Putin’s Mongolia visit as “a well-planned provocation” designed to show his indifference to the rule of law.

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