If Putin comes, we will be very happy - Brazil's foreign minister

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said that the Brazilian government would be "happy" if Putin came to Brazil during the G20 summit in November 2024. Mauro Vieira said in an exclusive interview with BBC News Brasil.

'If he (Putin) wants to come, we will be very happy to have him also present at the meetings in Brazil,' Vieira said.

Putin's possible visit to Brazil has been controversial because Brazil has been a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC) treaty since 2000 and ratified the treaty two years later.

Putin is the subject of an arrest warrant issued on charges of war crimes committed in Ukraine.

Here is part of Mauro Vieira's interview:

BBC News Brasil - Brazil will host the G20 summit next year. President Lula has already said he is likely to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to Brazil. Given that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant against him, how much of an embarrassment would it be for President Putin to come to Brazil in this context?

Mauro Vieira - Look ... he (Lula) is not going to invite... (Putin) is invited because he is a natural member, a founding member of BRICS and all countries, including the new ones, are invited. We have to see it on a case-by-case basis. Always, even in the ICC rules, there are rules for dealing with heads of state that we need to study. If he (Putin) wants to come, we will be very happy to have him present at the meetings in Brazil as well.

BBC News Brasil - But is there any chance he will be arrested here in Brazil?

Mauro Vieira - I don't know. I don't think so. I also hope not. I don't know. We won't take any initiatives to make that happen.

BBC News Brasil - Even though Brazil has signed the ICC?

Mauro Vieira - There are so many countries that...

BBC News Brasil - But since Brazil is a signatory to the ICC, wouldn't Brazil be obliged to obey the court's judgement?

Mauro Vieira - Obliged to obey? No. There has to be an order. Otherwise it would be like the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), which is about non-proliferation and disarmament and thinks only about disarmament, nobody pays attention to proliferation. Anyway... it isn't. Any circumstance is a circumstance.