Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend a summit in South Africa in August, the South African presidential office says.

The Russian leader was invited to Johannesburg for a summit of the BRICS countries, as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa were known, from Aug. 22 to 24.

However, he was subject to an international arrest warrant, issued by the International Criminal Court.

South Africa had signed the statutes of the world criminal court and was facing international pressure to execute the arrest warrant.

The court in The Hague issued the arrest warrant for Putin in March, for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.