New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi next month in person, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Russian media on Friday. The G20 Summit will be held under India’s Presidency on September 9-10.
According to Peskov, the Russian President’s “focus now is an ongoing special military operation in Ukraine.” The format of Putin’s participation in the global meet would be determined later, Peskov added.
“President Vladimir Putin is not planning a trip to the G20 summit in India, which will be held in September. The main emphasis now is a special military operation,” Dmitry Peskov told the Russian media.
According to sources, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be attending the Summit representing Putin as he did in Bali, Indonesia during the last G20 Summit.
This week, President Putin attended the BRICS Summit, held in South Africa, via video conference. He was represented by Lavrov.
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It is to be noted that President Putin’s decision to skip the BRICS Summit came in the wake of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against him in March over an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia. The Kremlin, however, has denied the allegation.
The G20 Summit is going to be held at a time when the world is facing increasingly tensed geopolitical developments with the ongoing war in Ukraine, US-China strategic and economic competition and Chinese assertion on Taiwan even as Taipei leans on Washington for its security.
With two weeks left for the G20 Summit, India is expected to face a major hurdle in terms of stitching up a joint statement with Russia and China both objecting to the language used concerning the Russia-Ukraine War.