Vladimir Putin plans to attend the G20 summit in Indonesia in November, an aide to the Russian president said Monday.
Despite launching a brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin was invited to the meeting of the world’s major developed and emerging economies by Indonesian President Joko Widodo — a move that will spark soul-searching for Western allied leaders also invited to the summit.
Putin’s participation — either in person or via video link — is “envisaged” at the meeting, said aide Yury Ushakov, according to Interfax. “They are still inviting in person. There is still a lot of time. I hope that the pandemic will allow this event to be held in person,” he added.
There is currently no consensus among Western leaders on whether to boycott the G20 over Russian involvement. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Monday he is still deciding whether to go to the summit if Putin also attends.
“In the end, we will have to make the decision shortly before the departure, because the course of the world can still change very considerably until then,” Scholz said.
In an interview with ZDF, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also said that: “We have to consider very carefully whether we paralyze the entire G20; I don’t advocate that. In my opinion, G20 is too important, also for the developing countries, the emerging countries, that we should let this body be broken by Putin.”
In a bid to foster compromise, the Indonesian president also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, despite Ukraine not being a G20 country.
