Russian Presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said that the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin would 'not be an obstacle' to the country’s relations with the Global South, during a briefing with journalists in Moscow on Wednesday.
"This whole issue with the ICC, whose jurisdiction as you know we do not recognise, cannot and will not be an obstacle to the development of Russia's relations with partners, with states that are interested in developing bilateral relations and international contacts. <…> The global majority has a much broader vision of the prospects for international co-operation than the bias set by the ICC. We will be guided by that, and there is a great deal of interest from the global majority in our country," he said.
Putin's recent trip to Mongolia - which is a member of the ICC - saw the court, as well as Ukraine and allies, call for him to be detained.
Mongolia did not directly comment, while the Kremlin has said it does not recognise the warrant, which deals with allegations of 'war crimes' relating to deportation of children in Ukraine. Russia, maintains that evacuation of children from war zones was done in line with international humanitarian law.
On Wednesday, the Russian president met with representatives from China and Malaysia in Vladivostok, ahead of the Eastern Economic Forum. Peskov noted Malaysia's interest in joining the BRICS group, adding that the issue of expansion would be considered during the next summit in Kazan.
"Together with our BRICS colleagues, we will address this matter. It is important to note that there are limits to the extent of expansion. There are proposals to develop the status of a BRICS partner state. Accordingly, we will need to determine together the number of partners that can be accommodated, the criteria for partner status, and so on. The details will be discussed in Kazan," Peskov said.
Regarding expansion, on Tuesday, the spokesperson for Turkey's governing Justice and Development (AK) Party said that the 'process' for his country joining the BRICS group was 'in progress'. It followed an earlier report that Turkey had applied 'months ago', although Ankara did not comment directly.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Russian Presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said that the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin would 'not be an obstacle' to the country’s relations with the Global South, during a briefing with journalists in Moscow on Wednesday.
"This whole issue with the ICC, whose jurisdiction as you know we do not recognise, cannot and will not be an obstacle to the development of Russia's relations with partners, with states that are interested in developing bilateral relations and international contacts. <…> The global majority has a much broader vision of the prospects for international co-operation than the bias set by the ICC. We will be guided by that, and there is a great deal of interest from the global majority in our country," he said.
Putin's recent trip to Mongolia - which is a member of the ICC - saw the court, as well as Ukraine and allies, call for him to be detained.
Mongolia did not directly comment, while the Kremlin has said it does not recognise the warrant, which deals with allegations of 'war crimes' relating to deportation of children in Ukraine. Russia, maintains that evacuation of children from war zones was done in line with international humanitarian law.
On Wednesday, the Russian president met with representatives from China and Malaysia in Vladivostok, ahead of the Eastern Economic Forum. Peskov noted Malaysia's interest in joining the BRICS group, adding that the issue of expansion would be considered during the next summit in Kazan.
"Together with our BRICS colleagues, we will address this matter. It is important to note that there are limits to the extent of expansion. There are proposals to develop the status of a BRICS partner state. Accordingly, we will need to determine together the number of partners that can be accommodated, the criteria for partner status, and so on. The details will be discussed in Kazan," Peskov said.
Regarding expansion, on Tuesday, the spokesperson for Turkey's governing Justice and Development (AK) Party said that the 'process' for his country joining the BRICS group was 'in progress'. It followed an earlier report that Turkey had applied 'months ago', although Ankara did not comment directly.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Russian Presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said that the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin would 'not be an obstacle' to the country’s relations with the Global South, during a briefing with journalists in Moscow on Wednesday.
"This whole issue with the ICC, whose jurisdiction as you know we do not recognise, cannot and will not be an obstacle to the development of Russia's relations with partners, with states that are interested in developing bilateral relations and international contacts. <…> The global majority has a much broader vision of the prospects for international co-operation than the bias set by the ICC. We will be guided by that, and there is a great deal of interest from the global majority in our country," he said.
Putin's recent trip to Mongolia - which is a member of the ICC - saw the court, as well as Ukraine and allies, call for him to be detained.
Mongolia did not directly comment, while the Kremlin has said it does not recognise the warrant, which deals with allegations of 'war crimes' relating to deportation of children in Ukraine. Russia, maintains that evacuation of children from war zones was done in line with international humanitarian law.
On Wednesday, the Russian president met with representatives from China and Malaysia in Vladivostok, ahead of the Eastern Economic Forum. Peskov noted Malaysia's interest in joining the BRICS group, adding that the issue of expansion would be considered during the next summit in Kazan.
"Together with our BRICS colleagues, we will address this matter. It is important to note that there are limits to the extent of expansion. There are proposals to develop the status of a BRICS partner state. Accordingly, we will need to determine together the number of partners that can be accommodated, the criteria for partner status, and so on. The details will be discussed in Kazan," Peskov said.
Regarding expansion, on Tuesday, the spokesperson for Turkey's governing Justice and Development (AK) Party said that the 'process' for his country joining the BRICS group was 'in progress'. It followed an earlier report that Turkey had applied 'months ago', although Ankara did not comment directly.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.