South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has asked permission from the International Criminal Court not to arrest Russia's Vladimir Putin, because to do so would amount to a declaration of war, a local court submission published on Tuesday showed. South Africa is due to host a summit of the BRICS club of nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- next month, which all of the heads of states of those countries are scheduled to attend. But the ICC has an arrest warrant out for Putin, accusing him of the war crime of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.