'Declaration of war': Medvedev warns consequences if Putin gets arrested

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev warned that if Russian President Vladimir Putin gets arrested overseas it would mean a 'declaration of war' against Russia. The assertion by the Russian diplomat came weeks after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against the Russian president over the alleged war crimes he committed in the midst of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. According to the Russian news outlet Tass, the top Russian official took this aggressive stance on Thursday. The comment from Medvedev came after the German justice minister stated that Putin will get arrested if he sets foot on German soil. 

"Such a situation is never going to happen but still, let’s imagine that it has happened. The incumbent head of a nuclear country arrives in, say, Germany, and is arrested. What does it mean? A declaration of war against Russia," Medvedev said in a press briefing on Thursday, as per the report by Tass. "In such a case, all our weapons will target the Bundestag, the [German] chancellor’s office and so on,” he added. Medvedev was responding to the remarks made by the German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann.

"Does he ( Buschmann) even realise that it would be a casus belli, a declaration of war?" The Russian diplomat made it clear that the decision by ICC would have a detrimental impact on Moscow’s relationship with the West. "Our relations with the Western world are already poor; they are perhaps at their worst ever. Even when Churchill delivered his Iron Curtain speech, our relationship was better. And all of a sudden, they make such a move against our head of state," Medvedev said. 

While Germany acts aggressively, South Africa acts coy

The reception of the arrest warrant against Putin from around the world garnered mixed responses. While some countries commended the decision taken by the international body, others have either criticised the move or kept mum over it. "Then Germany will be obliged to arrest President Putin if he enters German territory and hands him over to the International Criminal Court," Buschmann told the German newspaper Die Zeit. “I expect the ICC to quickly contact Interpol as well as participating States and ask them to comply with the demand. Germany will then be obliged to arrest President Putin when he enters German territory and hand him over to the ICC,” he added.

Meanwhile in South Africa leaders are divided over the Russian President’s upcoming visit to the country. Putin is expected to visit the nation to attend the 15th Brics summit, however, his visit has not been confirmed as of now. Things become complicated for South Africa since it is part of the 123 countries that have ratified the Roman statute. However, the country has shared cordial relationships with Russia in the past. South Africa’s head of diplomacy at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Clayson Monyela, asserted that the warrant is “not directed” at South Africa. “We haven’t been asked to do anything by the ICC,” he told UK news outlet INews. Hence, it will be interesting to see whether Putin will travel to the African nation, and it will also be interesting to see how the South African nation will deal with the visit.