Putin won’t attend G20 summit in Bali: Indonesian official

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend a gathering of leaders from the Group of 20 (G20) nations in Bali next week, an Indonesian government official told Reuters on Thursday.

Putin will be represented by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Jodi Mahardi, a spokesperson for the Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment affairs, said.

The Russian president is due to join one of the meetings virtually, he said.

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.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo in an interview with the Financial Times said Russia was welcome at the summit, which he feared would be overshadowed by a “very worrying” rise in international tensions.

“The G20 is not meant to be a political forum. It’s meant to be about economics and development,” he was quoted as saying.

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. 15, including U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.