The South African parliamentary committee on international relations wants the government to clarify the status of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to South Africa in August, it was announced today.

"We will write to the minister [of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation] as soon as we meet next week to discuss this matter, just to understand the approach from the point of view of the executive branch because we are supervising them," Supra Mahumapelo, head of the parliamentary committee on International Relations and Cooperation, told South African public broadcaster SABC, quoted by Lusa.

On Thursday, the head of South African diplomacy, Naledi Pandor, confirmed that the country had invited Vladimir Putin to the summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in August, despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against the Russian President.

As a member of the ICC, South Africa, which will host the BRICS heads of state and government summit in the south-eastern port city of Durban in August, is obliged to cooperate in Putin's arrest, after the international court recently issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader for alleged war crimes.

South Africa said last year that it had adopted a neutral position in Russia's war against Ukraine, and called for dialog and diplomacy to resolve the conflict.