Both Putin and Xi to Miss BRICS Summit: Putin Fears Arrest, Xi Has "Unspoken Concerns"

File Photo: Putin and Xi Jinping Posing for a Photograph

[People News] According to foreign media reports, both Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin will be absent from the upcoming BRICS summit in July. Reports say that China will send Premier Li Qiang to attend instead. The Russian side has openly stated that Putin’s absence is due to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Xi Jinping’s absence from a BRICS summit—an event he has never missed before—has led foreign media to speculate that he may have hidden reasons.

On June 26, multiple overseas outlets reported that Xi would not attend the BRICS summit. This year’s BRICS summit is scheduled for July 6–7 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazil assumed the BRICS presidency in January 2025.

The South China Morning Post quoted insiders saying that Beijing had informed the Brazilian government that Xi could not attend due to “scheduling conflicts” and that Premier Li Qiang would lead the delegation instead. Li had represented China at the G20 summit in India in 2023.

The report also noted that Xi had already met Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva twice in less than a year—once at the G20 summit in Brazil in November last year, and again at the “China–CELAC Forum” in Beijing this May—therefore, his absence from the BRICS summit was “not surprising.”

Xi has never missed a BRICS summit before. His absence this year has prompted many theories.

One theory suggests that Brazilian President Lula’s invitation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the BRICS state banquet may have influenced Beijing’s decision, especially in light of the recent warming of China–India relations. There is speculation that Xi did not want to appear as a “supporting character” should Modi steal the spotlight.

France’s Radio France Internationale (RFI) ran a headline stating that “Xi Jinping has unspoken reasons” for skipping the summit.

During a regular press conference in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun declined to explain why Xi would not attend the BRICS summit. He only stated that China would announce the delegation members “at an appropriate time.”

Putin skips BRICS summit due to fear of arrest

Russian President Vladimir Putin will also not attend the summit. Kremlin foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov was frank about the reason.

Ushakov explained: “This is related to the difficulties caused by the demands of the International Criminal Court.” The “demands” he referred to come from the Rome Statute of the ICC, which obligates all member states to carry out ICC-issued arrest warrants.

Given Russia’s close ties with Brazil, one might wonder whether Brazil could simply give Putin a pass. Ushakov seemed displeased, saying: “The Brazilian government could not make a clear and definite decision that would allow our president to attend smoothly.”

RFI quoted analysts saying that even though the Brazilian government may welcome Putin, it cannot guarantee that Brazil’s judicial authorities wouldn’t issue an arrest warrant once he sets foot in the country.

In 2023, the ICC indicted Putin for war crimes related to the invasion of Ukraine and for the abduction of thousands of Ukrainian children, issuing an arrest warrant.

So then, given Brazil’s close relationship with Russia, couldn’t it just let him off the hook? Ushakov expressed some dissatisfaction, saying, “The Brazilian government was unable to make a clear and unequivocal decision that would allow our president to attend smoothly.”

Radio France Internationale (RFI) cited an analysis stating that even if the Brazilian government welcomed Putin's attendance, it could not guarantee that Brazil’s judicial authorities wouldn’t issue an arrest warrant once Putin set foot on Brazilian soil.

In 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) charged Russian President Vladimir Putin with war crimes for launching the invasion of Ukraine and for abducting thousands of Ukrainian children, and subsequently issued an arrest warrant. △