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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin plans to attend the G20 summit in late October, the country’s ambassador to Indonesia has said, while reportedly calling the West’s response to the war in Ukraine “disproportionate”.
The summit is scheduled to take place in Bali, Indonesia at the end of October.
“Not only the G20, many organizations are trying to expel Russia,” Russian ambassador Lyudmila Vorobieva said during a press conference in Jakarta, Reuters reported. “The Western Response [to the war in Ukraine] is totally disproportionate.”
The US and its allies have imposed heavy sanctions on Russia to cripple its economy and isolate it from the rest of the world following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the G20 Summit of Leaders of the G20 by conference call in Moscow on October 30, 2021. (Photo by EVGENY PAULIN/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
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Russia has also been accused of “war crimes” by the US and others for frequent attacks by Russian forces on civilian infrastructure, including a maternity hospital filled with pregnant women. At least three people, including a child, died in the attack. Hundreds if not thousands of civilians have been killed in the war.
President Biden told reporters he believes Putin is a “war criminal,” and last week he called him a “pure thug” and a “homicidal dictator.”
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Tuesday the US plans to discuss with allies whether to bar Putin from the G20 while Biden is in Europe.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White House Tuesday, March 22, 2022 in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Upcoming discussions include whether to indefinitely exclude Putin from the G20, given that he was expelled from the G8 (now G7) in 2014 following its annexation of Crimea, Reuters reported, citing sources.
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Biden is scheduled to leave for a series of emergency meetings about the war in Belgium and Poland on Wednesday morning.
“We believe that things cannot go on as usual in international institutions and in the international community,” Sullivan told reporters, according to Axios.
ATTENTION: GRAPHIC PHOTO
Ukrainian rescue workers and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from a maternity hospital damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022. The baby was stillborn. Half an hour later the mother also died. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
Besides Russia, the other members of the G20 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States States and the European Union. Spain is a permanent guest.
At the G20 summits, the heads of state and government deal with global issues such as the economy, health, climate and security.
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Putin did not travel to the last G20 summit in Rome, Italy, in October 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but he attended virtually.