Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the G20 summit to be held in New Delhi on September 9-10 as he has a “busy schedule” and the format of his participation in the high-profile event would be determined later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced in Moscow on Friday.
“No, the President has no such plans,” the official Tass news agency quoted the Kremlin spokesman as saying.
The format of Putin’s participation would be determined later, Peskov said. He also said Putin has a “busy schedule” and the main focus is still the “special military operation” in Ukraine. Peskov also said Putin participated in this week’s BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit in Johannesburg remotely. He was represented at the summit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“Well, and after all, now he really has a busy schedule. And, of course, the main focus is still the special military operation. So direct travel is not on the agenda right now,” the Kremlin spokesman was quoted as saying by the official Tass news agency.
The G20 world leaders’ summit is expected to be one of the largest gatherings of world leaders in India. India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1, 2022, from Indonesia.
President Putin decided against attending the first in-person BRICS summit after Covid-19 as the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March over an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia.
South Africa is an ICC signatory and was expected to help in Putin’s arrest if he was present in the country. Putin had not attended the G20 summit in Indonesia last year.
Since India is not a signatory of the International Criminal Court (ICC), President Putin would not have been arrested on his arrival. So, that is not the reason for him deciding again visiting Delhi.
However, after the brief Wagner coup and the recent death of Wagner’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in an air crash, there is a lot Putin needs to handle on the home turf. “The speculation on President Putin being behind the ill-fated air crash is baseless. These are all total lies,” Peskov said adding that Putin had said all necessary evaluations will be conducted including DNA tests of passengers on board.
One of the US and Western officials who described the initial US assessment said it determined that Prigozhin was “very likely” targeted and that the explosion falls in line with Putin's “long history of trying to silence his critics.”
Britain’s defence ministry said on Friday that the presumed death of Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash could destabilise the Wagner Group.
Russia, in the meantime, will have a busy year ahead as it has just taken over the chairship of the BRICS group and will host the next Summit in Kazan next year. With six additional countries that will become full-time members in January 2024, there is a lot that Russia would do to make the 16th BRICS Summit a success, a source added.
The G20 summit is likely to be attended by 29 heads of State as well as top European Union (EU) officials and invited guest countries and 14 heads of international organisations. A G20 Leaders’ Declaration will be adopted at the conclusion of the New Delhi Summit.
On August 23, Washington announced that President Joe Biden will travel to India from September 7 to 10 to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
Biden and G20 partners will discuss a range of joint efforts to tackle global issues, including on the clean energy transition and combating climate change, mitigating the economic and social impacts of the Ukraine conflict, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Increasing the capacity of multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, to better fight poverty, including by addressing global challenges will also be discussed, the official added.
While in New Delhi, President Biden will also commend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership of the G20 and reaffirm the US commitment to the G20 as the premier forum of economic cooperation, including by hosting it in 2026, Jean-Pierre added.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are likely to participate in the high-profile event. Australia has announced that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will participate in the summit.