Vladimir Putin not expected to attend G2O summit next week
According to the Bloomberg agency, Vladimir Putin will not attend the G20 summit in Indonesia next week, citing sources responsible for organizing the event.
The Russian president’s decision avoids possible confrontations with other world leaders, including his American counterpart Joe Biden who called him a “war criminal”. The Kremlin also feared that Vladimir Putin would be shunned by European leaders during the November 15-16 summit on the island of Bali.
Russia will send Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in place of Mr Putin, one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Joe Biden said in March that Russia should be kicked out of the G20 in retaliation for invading Ukraine. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has refused to withdraw the invitation to Vladimir Putin as his country, which holds the rotating G20 presidency, seeks to maintain a neutral stance.
Widodo also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the summit as a guest. The latter said he would not attend if Mr Putin attended the summit himself.
Kremlin officials hoped the G20 would allow the Russian president to have informal contact with his American and European counterparts, but Joe Biden said he would not meet Vladimir Putin in Bali to discuss the war in Ukraine and that he was only willing to hold talks on the release of American citizens imprisoned in Russia, including basketball star Brittney Griner, as part of a possible prisoner swap.
Today, Joe Biden said he hopes that ” now that the election [de mi-mandat aux Etats-Unis] is over, Mr. Putin will be able to discuss with us and will be willing to talk more seriously about a prisoner exchange”referring to the fate of Brittney Griner.
“My intention is to bring her home”added Joe Biden, saying to himself ” optimistic “ about the fact that there is a “willingness to negotiate more specifically with us”.