Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend next week’s G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, people familiar with the trip planning have confirmed.
Instead of Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel, according to a spokesman for the host country’s Investment Ministry.
«The Russian foreign minister will come in person,» said Jodi Mahardi, a spokesperson for the ministry’s portfolio, as reported by the DPA agency.
The aim of the Kremlin’s avoidance of the Russian leader’s trip is to protect Putin from possible high-level tensions over the invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden said in March that Moscow should not participate in this group, in retaliation for the invasion «that triggered the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II» and «generated fears of nuclear escalation».
Despite this request, his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo, refused to withdraw the invitation to Putin because of the neutrality policies of his country, which holds the rotating presidency of the G20.
Widodo, this very Monday, acknowledged for the first time that he did not believe that the attendance of the Russian leader was possible, as he admitted in an interview to the ‘Financial Times’ newspaper.
The Indonesian leader spoke last week by phone with Putin, in a round of contacts that also included the president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski. The latter will probably attend the summit by videoconference, presidential spokesman Sergei Nikiforov told Ukrainian television on Tuesday.
