‘Maybe, maybe not’: Lula invites Putin to Brazil, sidesteps on war crimes arrest

BERLIN — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Monday that he will invite Vladimir Putin to G20 and BRICS summits in Brazil next year, but added it would be up to the judiciary to decide whether the Russian president is arrested if he decides to show up.

Putin faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes committed in Ukraine, which earlier this year deterred him from travelling to a G20 meeting in India and a BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in South Africa.

But Lula said he would welcome the Russian leader if he decided to attend the next G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024 as well as the next BRICS summit, which Brazil may also host next year.

“Putin is invited to attend the G20 and the BRICS summit in Brazil,” Lula told reporters in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“Whether he goes or not, he faces prosecution. He has to assess the consequences,” Lula went on, adding it was unclear whether Putin would be arrested: “Maybe, maybe not … It’s a judicial decision. And a president of the republic doesn’t judge judicial decisions.”

Lula noted that unlike Russia, Brazil has subscribed to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which issued the arrest warrant against Putin earlier this year.

“Brazil is a signatory, Brazil has a responsibility,” the president said.