“It’s difficult to look at what his forces are doing in Ukraine and think how an individual, a leader, can justify them. It is depravity.” Joe Biden’s new US push against Vladimir Putin comes as Indonesia formally invited the Kremlin leader to attend the G20 summit due to take place in Bali in November. A decision made despite strong opposition from the US government and weighed against the decision to open the doors of the summit to Ukraine and its President, Vlodomyr Zelenskyy. For the past few weeks, Biden has labeled the Tsar as a “murderer” and “dictator,” accused him of “war crimes,” then raised the bar to invoke “genocide.”
“Putin must pay for the consequences of what he has done and is doing,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby thundered today, “and he should not be invited to the G20.” An explicit request from Biden, who repeatedly emphasized the need to remove the Tsar from this forum as well. And that, according to his spokesman, he does not want to give in this time either. “There are still six months until the summit,” stressed Jen Psaki, and “the president was clear: this year’s G20 summit cannot go on as before.”
The only person who did not comment on Indonesia’s decision, probably dictated by the desire not to break through the front of some countries of the so-called emerging economies, which refuse to rely on the conflict, was the person concerned. Putin let his spokesman Dmitry Peskov speak, who answered journalists’ questions without clarifying almost anything, not even the Russian president’s actual participation in the G20. “It’s not decided yet,” he replied to those who asked if he was going there, in person or virtually. And he added that it was “premature” to say if there would be room for a two-way meeting with Zelenskyy. Only the phone call between Putin and the Indonesian Widodo is certain. “They had a very positive conversation – said Peskov – Putin wished success to the Indonesian presidency of the G20 and assured that Russia will do everything necessary and possible to contribute to it”.
But for now, the success of the summit seems very remote and unlikely. The format shows all its weaknesses and especially the deep internal divisions. The US government has been demanding the fall of Moscow since the beginning of the war. And at the meeting of finance ministers on April 20, the US delegates made a graphic demonstration of their position and walked out of work when Russian Anton Siluanov intervened, followed by representatives from Kyiv and Brussels. A strong decision, but one that also highlighted the rifts within the G20, which at the time – and not only – were moving in no particular order. Divided between those who left the classroom, those who thought it better to continue to blame the attack (like Italy, among others), and those who have no intention of distancing themselves. Starting from China. Russia, said Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, “is an important member of the G20 and no one has the right to exclude other countries: the G20 is the main forum for international economic cooperation, bringing together the major economies.
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