Russian President Vladimir Putin will not travel to next week's BRICS summit in Brazil because of an outstanding arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday.

President Xi Jinping will miss a meeting of BRICS leaders in Rio de Janeiro, according to a Brazilian official familiar with the matter, marking the first time the Chinese leader has skipped the summit since taking power.

China will be represented by Premier Li Qiang, while Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend in person, with Putin joining via video link.