Jakarta: Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the G20 leaders’ summit on the Indonesian resort island of Bali next week. It was confirmed by the Russian embassy in Indonesia.
Putin will be represented by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said Yulia Tomskaya, the chief of protocol at the embassy.
He further added that Putin is still deciding if he will join one of the meetings virtually.
As G20 host, Indonesia has resisted pressure from Western countries and Ukraine to withdraw its invitation to Putin from the leaders summit and expel Russia from the group over the war in Ukraine, saying it does not have the authority to do so without consensus among members.
Indonesia has also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has said he would not take part if Putin does and was expected to join virtually.
A number of other world leaders are due to attend the summit that starts on Nov. 10, including U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Moscow’s top diplomat walked out of a July G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali after officials roundly condemned Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.