Putin & Zelenskyy accept invitation to attend G20 summit 2022 in Indonesia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been invited to the upcoming G-20 summit in November, which would also have his adversary Vladimir Putin in attendance. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who will be hosting the event confirmed the invitation to reporters on Friday, as the war neared its ninth week. Earlier, he had revealed that the Russian President had also accepted his invitation to the conference during a recent phone call. Notably, this came after western leaders asked Jakarta to bar Moscow's participation in the conference scheduled for November this year. 

As of now, it is not known if Putin will attend the summit virtually or fly to Bali to mark his presence. Earlier this week, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that while Russia was preparing for this year’s G20 summit, it has not yet decided whether Putin will attend in person or virtually. On the other hand, no details have been revealed for Zelenskyy's participation as well. Notably, Ukraine is not a part of the G-20 group, however, earlier this month US President Joe Biden called for its inclusion in the meeting.  

How have leaders opined on Russia's attendance?

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison have already criticised the idea of allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the G20 meeting this year. US President Joe Biden also supported the expulsion of Russia from the G20. In his press conference in Brussels last week, Biden said that he supports removing Russia from the Grouping of Twenty Nations (G20). However, China has fully come out in support of Russia after the US and European countries raised the possibility of expelling Moscow from the Group of 20 (G20). Calling Russia an "important member", Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin preached to the member states, saying that they should uphold "true multilateralism, strengthen solidarity and cooperation" and tackle "mounting challenges" in economic fields. In his statement, he backed Moscow, saying that no country has the right to remove it as a member.

As the war between the two ex-Soviet powers nears its ninth week, both sides have exacerbated their attacks. Amidst the death and destruction, the United Nations sought to broker an evacuation of civilians from the hellish ruins of Mariupol. Ukrainian troops, meanwhile, continue to battle Russia’s advances in the south and east where they are aiming to capture the Donbas region. Consisting of Luhansk and Donetsk, the industrial region is controlled by Kremlin-backed Separatists since the Crimean war of 2014. 

(Image: AP)