Bloomberg: Putin will not go to G20 summit in Bali to avoid confrontation with leaders of other countries

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not go to the G20 summit, which will be held on the island of Bali in Indonesia on November 15-16. Bloomberg writes about this, citing sources.

According to the agency, the Kremlin wants to avoid a "potential confrontation" between Putin and other leaders at the summit over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In particular, Bloomberg mentions US President Joe Biden, who after the start of the war called Putin a war criminal.

Instead of the President of Russia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will go to the summit in Indonesia, one of the sources told Bloomberg.

Update. The Kremlin confirmed that Lavrov will represent Russia at the G20 summit.

The fact that Putin in Bali could be replaced by Lavrov was reported on November 8 by Vedomosti sources. At the same time, the Indonesian authorities assumed that Putin would speak virtually. Officially, the Kremlin should announce the format of Russia's participation in the G20 summit by the end of this week.

• Joe Biden in March proposed to exclude Russia from the G20 because of the invasion of Ukraine. Instead, the president of Indonesia, which chairs the G20 this year, invited the leaders of both Russia and Ukraine (which is not part of the G20) to the summit.
• earlier Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he would not go to the summit if Putin was present. On November 8, Zelensky's press secretary, Sergei Nikiforov , said that the Ukrainian leader would most likely participate in the summit online.