Will Vladimir Putin be arrested in South Africa next month?

Vladimir Putin has been invited to South Africa in August for the BRICS summit.

If Russian president Vladimir Putin is arrested when he visits South Africa, it will be a declaration of war against Moscow, the country's president warned ahead of an an international meeting in Johannesburg to which the Russian leader is invited.

Russian president Vladimir Putin. (AP)

As Vladimir Putin leaves Russian soil, he could be arrested as he will be subject to an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. South Africa is a signatory to the ICC but has earlier refused to furnish on the obligation. The country allowed a safe passage in 2015 to Sudan's then-President Omar al-Bashir who was wanted for war crimes.

Vladimir Putin has been invited to South Africa in August for the BRICS summit owing to which South Africa's biggest opposition party, Democratic Alliance, has gone to court to try to force the authorities to arrest Vladimir Putin.

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa told the court that such a move means that national security is at stake, saying in an affidavit, "South Africa has obvious problems with executing a request to arrest and surrender President Putin. Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting president would be a declaration of war. It would be inconsistent with our constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia."

South Africa is one of several African nations holding talks with Russia and Ukraine "with a view of ending the war altogether", he said, asserting that arresting Vladimir Putin would be counter-productive. Cyril Ramaphosa also said in his affidavit that he was consulting with the leaders of each BRICS country over the issue.

Last month, the South African president joined several African leaders to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and then Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia, to discuss a path to ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine.