EAM Jaishankar meets Russian FM Lavrov in South Africa

Johannesburg: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov here on Wednesday on the sidelines of the BRICS summit and discussed recent global developments.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is representing Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit.

President Putin has decided against attending the first in-person BRICS summit after Covid-19 as the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March over an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia.

South Africa is an ICC signatory and is expected to help in Putin’s arrest.

“Pleased to meet FM Sergey Lavrov of Russia on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. A useful discussion on recent global developments,” Jaishankar posted on X.

The BRICS bloc – comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world, representing 41 per cent of the global population, 24 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of the global trade.

Over 20 heads of state from Africa and the Middle East have also been invited to attend the summit. A number of them have applied to become members of BRICS, which is one of the matters on the agenda for the summit.