Russian officials are weighing in on the issuance of an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of war crimes. The court says there are reasonable grounds to believe that Putin bears responsibility for the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.

Russian Lower House Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Saturday that amendments to legislation are needed to ban any activity of the ICC on Russian territory.

Security Council deputy chair Dmitry Medvedev says if the Russian leader was arrested in another country, for example in Germany, it would be a declaration of war on Russia, which is a nuclear state.

More than 120 states parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC are now obligated to detain Putin if he sets foot on their territory. That could inhibit Putin's diplomatic activities.

Five emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- are scheduled to hold a summit in August in South Africa, which is a state party to the ICC statute.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday it has not been decided whether Putin will attend the BRICS summit.