Indonesian President Joko Widodoreported this Friday that invited his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelensky, to the G20 summit in November in Indonesia, in which Vladimir Putin confirmed his participation.
(Read: Guterres: ‘Security Council failed to prevent war in Ukraine’)
“I invited President Zelensky to participate in the G20 summit,” the Indonesian president declared, suggesting a compromise had been found after pressure from Westerners to exclude Russia from the group in the wake of the Ukraine invasion. But Jakarta justified that his position forced him to be “impartial.”
(You are interested in: The US strikes back at Russia from the desks of the G20)
The American President, Joe Biden then suggested a Ukrainian participation to have a balance. The Ukrainian president said in a tweet on Wednesday that he had been invited to the summit after a telephone conversation with his Indonesian counterpart.
Joko Widodo also spoke with the Russian leader on Thursday. “At that time, President Putin thanked Indonesia for the invitation to the G20 summit and said he would participate,” he stated.
Since the start of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine on February 24, Western countries have tried to isolate Russia diplomatically.
A meeting of G20 finance ministers in Washington in April highlighted divisions within the group, which brings together the world’s largest economies. The G20 summit is scheduled to be held in Bali in November.
Finding balance in the g20
I expressed my hope that the war can end soon and a peaceful solution can be advanced through talks.
The decision to invite both leaders shows the delicate balance that the Southeast Asian country is trying to achieve as host of the G20 this year.
Russia is a member of the G20, and countries in the group have been divided over reaction to Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have an impact on the recovery of the global economy and it was in this context that he invited Putin and Zelensky to the summit during separate calls with them throughout week.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov declined to say whether Putin would attend in person.
As Russia prepares for the Bali summit, it is “premature” to discuss the details of its participation, he told reporters in a conference call on Friday, responding to questions about the possibility of a meeting with Zelensky there.
We understand that the G20 can be a catalyst for global economic recovery.
Until now, Putin has refused to meet with Zelenskyeven when the Ukrainian leader says that it is the only way to end the war.
Talks for a temporary ceasefire have failed and there has been no significant progress on a broader peace agreement.
The United States and some allies have pressed Indonesia to extend an invitation to Ukraine, frustrated by Jakarta’s refusal to exclude Putin.
The host nation typically invites leaders from a handful of non-G20 states to attend as observers, even if they don’t sit in on formal meetings.
Russia has been heavily sanctioned by some G20 states over his war in Ukraine, and leaders, including US President Joe Biden, would be unlikely to sit at the same table as Putin if he joined the meeting.
Biden has said he would support Russia’s outright expulsion from the G20, though other members such as China have opposed that.
Russia was expelled from the smaller Group of Eight following Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
“Indonesia wants to unite the G20. Let there be no division,” Widodo said. “Peace and stability are the keys to the recovery and development of the world economy.”
USA rejects invitation to Russia
For its part, the United States said on Friday that it refuses to “act as if nothing” had happened after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, commenting on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to the G20 summit.
“The United States continues to believe that Russia’s participation in the international community and international institutions can’t be business as usual,” Deputy State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters.
Russia’s participation in the international community cannot be played as if nothing had happened.
Porter did not clarify whether or not Washington will participate in the summit to be held on the tourist island of Bali.
US President Joe Biden “has publicly expressed his opposition to President Putin attending the G20. We have welcomed the Ukrainians who attend,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
“We have conveyed our opinion that we don’t think they should be a part of this in public or in private,” Psaki said.
He noted that the United States was in contact with the Indonesians and that the invitation to Russia came before its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia, unlike Ukraine, is a member of the Group of 20 which is made up of the world’s largest economies.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from AFP and Bloomberg
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