Russian President Vladimir Putin can attend next year's G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro without fear of arrest, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said.
Lula said at this year's meeting in New Delhi that the Russian president would be welcome to attend the event in November 2024, the Guardian reports.
"What I can tell you is that if I am the president of Brazil, and if he comes to Brazil, there is no reason for him to be arrested," he said.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin for alleged war crimes in March 2023, just over a year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
As a signatory to the Rome Statute, Brazil is obliged to cooperate with the investigations and activities of the ICC.
Lula, however, indicated that Putin would be welcome at the summit in Rio, where the visitors, he said, would find "an atmosphere of peace."
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