Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov 10: The Russian embassy in Indonesia informed AFP on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be attending the G20 leaders’ summit on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali.
“I can confirm that (foreign minister) Sergei Lavrov will lead the Russian delegation to the G20. President Putin’s program is still being worked out, he could participate virtually,” said Yulia Tomskaya, the embassy’s chief of protocol.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not go to the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia, next week, the Russian embassy in Indonesia tells. "I can confirm that FM Sergei Lavrov will lead the Russian delegation to the G20," Yulia Tomskaya at the embassy says: AFP News Agency pic.twitter.com/CW6VRicSKn
— ANI (@ANI) November 10, 2022
The summit will be attended by US President Joe Biden, who has referred to Putin as a “war criminal” and has previously stated he has no intention of seeing Putin there.
The choice, which came after months of speculation, was made as Moscow was losing the Ukraine campaign and as the Kremlin tried to avoid being criticised by the West during the meeting on November 15–16.
Putin would be replaced by Lavrov, according to a second source familiar with Russia’s preparations for the Bali event. The speaker claimed it was unknown whether the Russian president would participate virtually.
The G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali in July saw the expulsion of Russia’s senior diplomat after the country was roundly criticised for its invasion of Ukraine.
Host Indonesia has a non-aligned foreign policy and has rejected requests from the West to exclude Russia from the summit. Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, is anticipated to participate remotely at the conference.
Putin would still be welcomed to the meeting, according to Indonesian President Joko Widodo, drawing harsh criticism from the West. He claimed that Putin had accepted the invitation in August. If Putin attended, Zelensky had threatened to skip the summit. Ukraine does not belong to the G20 group.
