Vladimir Putin will not attend trade summit in South Africa amid arrest warrant

News Snapshot:

Vladimir Putin will not be attending the BRICS trade summit in South Africa thereby avoiding the risk of arrest. The South African government broke the news with the following statement: "By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the Summit, but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister, Mr Sergey Lavrov." The BRICS bloc is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Mr Putin will instead attend by videocall, according to the Kremlin. The announcement follows weeks of will-he-won't-he speculation and flies in the face of understandings the Russian leader...