Russian President Vladimir Putin not to attend New Delhi G20 Summit.
Delhi: President Putin was absent from the previous year’s G20 summit in Bali and likewise opted out of the 15th BRICS summit that recently concluded in Johannesburg.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending the upcoming G20 leaders’ summit scheduled for September 9-10 in this location, as communicated by Dmitry Peskov, the Press Secretary to the Russian President, to Russian media. This decision aligns with President Putin’s absence from various international summits since the onset of the Ukraine crisis in February 2022. Previously, there were anticipations of his visit to Turkey upon the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, this recent announcement has also raised doubts about that anticipated visit.
“Putin has no plans to attend the G20 summit in India, slated for September. The current priority is the ongoing military operation in Ukraine,” stated Mr. Peskov during a conversation with Russian media. In the previous year, President Putin was absent from the G20 summit in Bali and also refrained from participating in the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, which concluded recently. On both occasions, the Russian delegation was led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Numerous leaders have already confirmed their attendance at the G20 summit in India, including President Joe Biden, who will be in Delhi from September 7 to 10. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also disclosed his plans to visit India.
Earlier, the physical summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was cancelled under India’s chairmanship, leading to the possibility of Mr. Putin’s visit to India being preempted. Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted the SCO summit virtually on July 4, as India had decided in May to forgo the physical format for the summit. However, in June 2022, President Putin did visit Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. In Tajikistan, discussions with President Emomali Rahmon centered on the aftermath of the Taliban’s 2021 takeover in Kabul. In Turkmenistan, he engaged in the Caspian Summit, aiming to enhance land connectivity from South, West, and Central Asia to Russia. Mr. Putin’s anticipated trip to Turkey was set to revolve around discussions concerning the Black Sea Grain deal with Mr. Erdogan, who has maintained continuous communication with the Kremlin regarding the Ukraine situation. Earlier reports from Turkish media had indicated that the visit was slated for late August. Nonetheless, Russian sources declined to verify the visit on Friday. The Ministry of External Affairs has not provided any response to Mr. Peskov’s statements up to this point.
