President Cyril Ramaphosa has outlined in a court affidavit the tortuous and stressful diplomatic consultations Pretoria went through before announcing on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not, after all, attend next month's BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.

An additional affidavit filed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in the DA's court application demanding that South Africa should arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he comes to the country, reveals that Ramaphosa started consultations with BRICS heads of state about the issue after bilateral talks with Putin on the sidelines of the African Peace Mission in June in St Petersburg, Russia.

Daily Maverick understands that is when Ramaphosa reached an agreement with Putin about not attending the summit in August, but he had to also consult with the other BRICS member states.

Ramaphosa first spoke to Brazilian President Lula da Silva about the matter on the sidelines of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris, held on 22 and 23 June. However, the President wanted his affidavit to be kept confidential until after he spoke to the Chinese and Indian heads of state.

"At this meeting, the President of Brazil agreed that the preferred option, being that President Putin would not attend the summit in person, had his support," Ramaphosa said in his affidavit.

"This was soon after my trip to Russia as part of the Africa Heads of State Peace Mission on 19 June...