Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia says Putin plans to attend G20 summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to attend a G20 summit in Indonesia later this year, Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia said on Wednesday, dismissing suggestions by some G20 members that Russia could be barred from the group.

The US and its Western allies are assessing whether Russia should remain within the Group of Twenty major economies after its invasion of Ukraine, sources involved in the discussions told Reuters.

However, any bid to exclude Russia would likely be vetoed by others in the group, raising the prospect of some countries instead skipping G20 meetings, the sources said.

Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia, which holds the rotating G20 chair, said Putin intended to travel to Bali for the G20 summit in November.

“It will depend on many, many things, including the Covid-19 situation. So far, his intention is that he wants to,” ambassador Lyudmila Vorobieva told a news conference.

Asked about suggestions Russia could be excluded from the G20, she said it was a forum to discuss economic issues and not a crisis like Ukraine.

“Of course expulsion of Russia from this kind of forum will not help these economic problems to be resolved. On the contrary, without Russia it would be difficult to do so.”

Indonesia’s foreign ministry declined to comment on calls for Russia to be excluded from the G20.

Putin said Russia is carrying out “a special military operation” to stop the Ukrainian government from committing genocide, an accusation the West calls a baseless fabrication. It calls the "operation" war.

Vorobieva urged Indonesia not to be swayed by pressure from Western countries.

“We hope the Indonesian government will not give in to the horrible pressure being applied not only on Indonesia but so many other countries by the West,” said Vorobieva, who said Russia was taking part in all G20 meetings.

‘Busy with something else’

Russia is facing an onslaught of international sanctions led by Western countries aiming to isolate it from the global economy, including shutting it out of the SWIFT global bank messaging system and restricting dealings by its central bank.

On Tuesday, Poland said it had suggested to US commerce officials that it replace Russia within the G20 group, and that the suggestion had received a “positive response”.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said G20 members would have to decide, but the issue was not a priority.

“When it comes to the question of how to proceed with the World Trade Organisation and the G20, it is imperative to discuss this question with the countries involved and not to decide individually,” Scholz said.

“It is quite clear we are busy with something else than coming together in such meetings. We urgently need a ceasefire.”

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, asked if President Joe Biden would move to push Russia out of the G20 when he meets allies in Brussels this week, told reporters at the White House: “We believe it cannot be business as usual for Russia in international institutions and in the international community.”

However, the US plans to consult allies before any other pronouncements, he said.

An EU source separately confirmed the discussions about Russia’s status at G20 meetings.

“"It has been made very clear to Indonesia that Russia’s presence at forthcoming ministerial meetings would be highly problematic for European countries,” said the source, adding there was no clear process for excluding a country.

Indonesia’s deputy central bank governor Dody Budi Waluyo said on Monday Indonesia’s position was one of neutrality and it would use its G20 leadership to try to resolve problems, but Russia had a “strong commitment” to attend and other members could not forbid it from doing so.