On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik that Putin had decided to participate in the BRICS summit via video conference format, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be present at the event.
"He [Putin] will not attend the summit physically, but he will attend the summit virtually ... President Putin will also deliver his remarks virtually [on August 23]," Sooklal told reporters, as broadcast by SABC News.
The Russian leader will participate in all discussions of the summit, the sherpa added.