BRICS summit in South Africa to be held in person

South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa , announced on Sunday that next month's BRICS summit will be held in person.

South Africa is the current chair of the BRICS , a group of countries that includes Brazil , Russia , India and China whose aim is to challenge US and European global dominance.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has been invited to attend despite being wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over accusations that Russia unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.

"We are going to have a physical BRICS summit, and all of us are committed to having a summit where we will be able to eyeball each other. We have not held a physical summit for quite a long time, almost three years now. So, sorry to disappoint you, it's not going to be virtual", announced South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa .

South Africa has not condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine , saying it is impartial and prefers dialogue, which it is pushing for.

Last month, Ramaphosa led a seven-country African peace delegation including representatives from the Republic of Congo , Egypt , Senegal and Uganda , in a historic attempt to broker peace between Kyiv and Moscow .