South African President Cyril Ramaphosa warned against falling into competition among global powers ahead of hosting the BRICS summit in 2023.

The summit, which will take place in Johannesburg, will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and de facto Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ramaphosa emphasized that South Africa has had clear problems executing a request to arrest and surrender President Putin, as Russia has made it clear that arresting its current president would be a declaration of war.

He also emphasized that risking involvement in a war with Russia would be inconsistent with the country’s constitution