The Russian leader will not attend the summit in person
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the summit of G20 leaders in Bali, Indonesia next week in person, his press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed on Thursday.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be heading the Russian delegation at the two-day event, the official said.
The same information was also given by Russia’s Embassy in Jakarta to Russian and foreign media outlets, while Reuters reported on it citing an Indonesian government official. Both sources said Putin may participate in the event via video link.
The host nation previously came under pressure by the US and its allies to block Putin from attending the meeting, claiming that Russia should be isolated diplomatically as punishment for sending troops into Ukraine.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, together with representatives from the UK and Canada, walked out of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in April, in protest against a speech of Russian delegates.
Jakarta did not yield and sent an invitation to Putin just like any other leader of G20 nations.
READ MORE: Kiev comments on Zelensky’s participation in G20
There was some speculation in the Western media that US President Joe Biden could meet Putin on the sidelines of the gathering, but the White House ultimately ruled this out.
According to some reports, the Biden administration made plans on how to prevent even a casual encounter between him and Putin, should the Russian leader attend the G20 summit in person.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is expected to participate in the event virtually too. He conditioned his involvement on Putin’s not going to Bali.
RT (Russia Today) is a state-owned news organization funded by the Russian government. The information provided by this news source is being included by the Libertarian Hub not as an endorsement of the Russian government, but rather because it is being actively censored by Big Tech, Western governments and the corporate press. During times of conflict it is imperative that we have access to both sides of the story so we can form our own opinions, even if both sides are spewing their own propaganda. The censorship of RT, despite likely being a propaganda outfit for the Russian government, reduces our ability to hear one side of the conflict. For that reason, the Libertarian Hub will temporarily republish the RSS feed from RT. Visit https://rt.com