South Africa may abandon its role as host of this year’s Brics summit in an attempt to avoid international pressure to arrest the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who is wanted by the international criminal court on charges of war crimes.
In a flurry of diplomatic activity around Ukraine, South Africa with five other African states is trying to garner support for a new peace plan. South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, on Saturday briefed Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, on the upcoming visit by African leaders to Russia and Ukraine in an attempt to end hostilities. China has its own peace mission under way, and it is not clear what the Africa mission might add.
