Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that Vladimir Putin will not attend the G20 summit due next week in Bali. The country will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Earlier that Putin will be absent from the G20 summit, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. The reason is that the Kremlin is trying to “protect it from potential tensions that could arise due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
According to Bloomberg, the theme of the war in Ukraine will be the main one on the agenda of the summit.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said that he is not going to participate in G20 events if Putin is there.
The G20 summit will be held on November 15-16 in Bali, both Putin and Zelensky were invited to it. Political scientist, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Georgy Kunadze, in a conversation with The Insider, described Putin's decision to take part in the G20 summit with the saying "sip jelly for seven miles" ( in vain to go on a long journey ). He recalled that at the G20 summit in 2014, no one wanted to communicate with Putin and did not even sit down at the same table with him for lunch. The Russian leader “sat alone, playing with his jaws,” and went home without waiting for the end of official events, Kunadze said.