Indonesia to bar Putin from G-20 summit
President Vladimir Putin of Russia may be turned down by the Indonesian president who is now under international pressure to bar the Russian president from attending global leaders’ summit in November.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo whose country hosts the G20 meeting in the capital Bali had earlier extended invitation to President Putin who gleefully accepted, having suffered international indignation and isolation following his invasion of Ukraine in February.
President Putin, his allies and country have been the targets of a string of international sanctions from the world’s biggest economies and military powers.
Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, told agency sources that Putin’s invitation to the event will have to be cancelled to avoid awkward moments in a top diplomatic assembly.
The summit scheduled for middle of November would risk awkward encounters if Putin were to come, as the Kremlin had previously said he intended to go.
Italian Premier Mario Draghi said the Indonesian presidency of the Group of 20 nations has ruled out in-person participation by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the November meeting of the group in Bali.
Russia had in April got invitation to G-20 gathering in Bali this fall notwithstanding anger from all parts of the world over Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
But Draghi, whose country held the G-20 presidency before handing it off to Indonesia, said Tuesday the G-7 had rallied to support Indonesian President Joko Widodo to organize a successful summit.
Asked about the Kremlin’s announcement that Putin would participate, Draghi said: “President Widodo excludes it. He was categorical: [Putin] is not coming. What might happen — I don’t know what will happen but what might happen is perhaps a remote intervention.”
