World leaders have decided to skip the official “family photo” when they meet at next week’s G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.
New Delhi, UPDATED: November 12, 2022 8:37 AM IST
In his place, the longtime deputy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sergei Lavrov, will attend. (Photo: AFP)
From India Today Web Desk: World leaders have decided to skip the official “family photo” when they meet at next week’s G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, due to widespread unease over Russia’s presence.
The world leaders usually gather for an opening photo at the start of the event, but this time will be different as there will be no photos at the summit, which begins next Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that he will not attend. However, his long-time deputy Sergey Lavrov will take his place. Lavrov had staged much drama at previous summits by walking out of the foreign ministers’ meeting after telling his counterparts that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was not responsible for a global hunger crisis.
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During the Conservatives’ leadership contest, Rishi Sunak had said he would not attend if Putin were present, although his position has declined since entering at No. 10 as the G20 will be his first major encounter with many world leaders.
There would have been pressure on other leaders not to attend if Putin decided to fly to Bali. Western finance ministers walked out of a G20 meeting in April to demonstrate their opposition to Russia’s presence.
Russia’s membership of the G20 means British officials are acknowledging that it will be almost impossible for leaders to agree on a communiqué by the end of the summit, and none have been agreed at previous financial or foreign policy meetings.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was asked to speak virtually at the summit. He had said he would not attend if Putin was present.
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The G20 includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union (EU).
The G20 summit will take place in Bali on November 15-16 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be among the top leaders.
The G20 is the most important forum for international economic cooperation and represents around 85 percent of global GDP, over 75 percent of world trade and around two-thirds of the world’s population.
India will take over the leadership of the powerful G20 grouping from current leader Indonesia on December 1 and will hold the post for a year.
Published on:
November 12, 2022