Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to attend the G-20 summit in Indonesia this fall. “Yes, we have confirmed that our participation is planned,” Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said on Monday, according to the state news agency TASS. It remained unclear whether the Kremlin chief wanted to travel personally or be connected via video. “I dont know. You have invited to attend in person, but there is still plenty of time. I hope that the pandemic will allow this important forum to be held in person,” Ushakov said.
With reference to the corona pandemic, Putin has only taken part in many events in online format in recent months. This Tuesday he will undertake his first publicly known trip abroad since the war began in Ukraine around four months ago, to Tajikistan in Central Asia.
The G 20 is a group of leading economic powers, which, in addition to the G 7 countries Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Great Britain and the USA, also includes Russia, China and Saudi Arabia. The next summit is scheduled for mid-November on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo confirmed Putin’s attendance at the end of April. At the time, however, the Kremlin only said that a commitment was still being examined. Because of Russia’s war against Ukraine, it was recently discussed whether the world’s largest country in terms of area should be excluded from the G-20 group.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke out on ZDF on Monday in favor of maintaining the G 20. “One thing is clear: the G20 must continue to play a role.” There is “a common conviction that we do not want to torpedo the G20,” he added.
Before Scholz, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke out against a boycott of the G-20 summit in autumn – even if Putin were to attend the next meeting. “We have to think very carefully about whether we paralyze the entire G 20, I’m not advocating it,” said von der Leyen on Sunday evening on ZDF.
