Putin to skip G20 summit to avoid potential high-level tensions – media reports
Putin (Photo:Getty Images)
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin won’t attend the G20 summit next week as the Kremlin seeks to protect the president from potential high-level tensions over his invasion of Ukraine, the Bloomberg news agency reported on Nov. 9.
With reference to people familiar with the planning, Bloomberg said Putin’s decision ends months of suspense and allows the dictator to sidestep potential confrontations with other world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden who has labeled the Russian president a “war criminal.”
The Kremlin also risked Putin being shunned by European leaders at the Nov. 15-16 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali, Bloomberg reported.
One of the people said Russia will send Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Putin’s place.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to take part in the G20 summit in Indonesia, his spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov said on Nov. 8.
According to Nikiforov, the president will most likely take part online.
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