Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba doubts that the Republic of South Africa, if Russian President Vladimir Putin appears in the country, will be able to ignore the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on a warrant for his arrest.

"It is clear that South Africa will not give up on Putin, this is their political ally, and they held joint exercises. But ignore. I don't think that South Africa will be able to openly and boldly ignore the ICC warrant," Kuleba said during a conversation with journalist Vadym Karpiak, which was broadcast on Instagram on Friday.

The minister also said this is not even a question of Putin himself or Ukraine, but of the existence of the ICC as a whole.

"But if they openly disregard the ICC warrant, it will ruin the ICC. Therefore hour the court is interested in observance of its acts. And accordingly, those countries that support the ICC will all join the behind-the-scenes diplomatic battle to ensure the execution of the warrant," Kuleba said.

He also said "it is better to fight against attempts not to execute a warrant for Putin's arrest than to fight for such a warrant to be issued in principle."

"And believe me, it was not all self-evident. We must give credit to the ICC for having decided on such a judgement," the Foreign Minister said.

"Such moves are not made when 'key players' do not believe that such moves are realistic to achieve. And in fact, this signal is more important than anything else," Kuleba said.

In addition, the minister expressed confidence that justice will be unambiguously achieved, and the decision of the ICC is the most important signal.

The ICC does not exist in a vacuum. And if such an accusation was made against the head of state, which, although illegal, is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, then the court understands that there is "power" behind it. Let not all and each participant of the Rome Statute, but the sufficient strength of the participants is formed, which is able to ensure the implementation of the decision and justice regarding it," Kuleba said.

Earlier, Bloomberg said the South African government has asked for legal advice on how to respond to an International Criminal Court warrant for the arrest of Russian President Putin if the Russian leader attends the BRICS summit in August.

At the same time, representatives of the South African Foreign Ministry declined to comment.