Jakarta: Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the Group of Twenty G-20 summit in Indonesia next week, an Indonesian government official said today.
Putin is believed to have taken the decision to avoid a possible confrontation with the United States and its allies over the war in Ukraine.
The two-day summit to be held in Bali on November 15 will be attended by US President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other politicians.
The summit would be the first time Biden and Putin have met since Russia invaded Ukraine last February.
“Chief of Support” of the G-20 summit, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, told reporters in Denpasar, Indonesia, that the Russian delegation to the conference will be led by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
He added that the Indonesian government is respecting the decision of the Russian government. The reason for not attending the summit has already been explained to President Joko Widodo by phone by Putin himself.
Widodo, who organized the G-20, said, “We hope that a good discussion between the leaders of the two countries will help to reduce the tension between Russia and Ukraine,” Pandjaitan said.