Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will attend a G20 summit in November, the leader of Indonesia – who currently chairs the Forum of Great World Economists – said in an interview published on Friday.
The two leaders’ attendance at the summit would coincide with that of US President Joe Biden, while Washington’s ties with Moscow and Beijing are at their lowest due to the war in Ukraine and tensions over Taiwan.
It was uncertain whether Mr Putin and Mr Xi would travel to the Indonesian island of Bali to attend the talks. Moscow has been in isolation since invading Ukraine, while the Chinese leader is restricting his overseas travel due to COVID-19.
But Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in an interview with Bloomberg that the two leaders would attend the summit in person.
“Xi Jinping will come. President Putin also told me he was coming,” Widodo said, according to the report.
Officials in the Kremlin said in June that Mr Putin had accepted Mr Widodo’s invitation provided the health situation linked to the pandemic would allow him to attend in person.
Jakarta has come under Western pressure to ban Vladimir Putin from the summit after he announced in April that he would be invited.
Jakarta has maintained a neutral stance on Ukraine. Joko Widodo traveled to both Kyiv and Moscow earlier this year.
Indonesian officials say Mr Widodo’s statements appeared to confirm the presence of the two heads of state
Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told AFP that Russia and China “received the invitation and said they would attend the summit.” That’s “something we’re really hoping for,” he added.
Mr Widodo’s chief of staff declined to comment on the Indonesian president’s remarks, and his foreign minister did not respond to a query from AFP.
Indonesia has also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the summit. The Ukrainian leader, whose country is not a G20 member, said he would at least attend virtually.