Putin Won’t Attend G20 Summit in India

The Kremlin has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not go to the G20 conference in India next month.

According to Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, travel is not now on Putin's agenda since he is focusing on the special military operation, or what the Kremlin refers to as Russia's war against Ukraine.

But keeping him at home is another problem. Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes committed in Ukraine, which the Kremlin vehemently contests.

This means he risks arrest when travelling abroad. Peskov did not mention the warrant in his comments.

Putin did not fly to Indonesia for the summit of the group’s summit last year. He also skipped attending the BRICS summit in South Africa this week and instead took part via video link.

At the summit of the world’s 20 largest economies, to take place on September 9 and 10, India hopes to persuade members to find amicable solutions to geopolitical issues, its G20 summit negotiator Amitabh Kant said on Friday, responding to a query on the Russia-Ukraine war.

Kant said the G20 wants growth but war has created “a huge implication in terms of economics” by bringing challenges regarding food, fuel and fertiliser.

“The war is not our creation,” Kant said. “Our challenge is to put developmental issues right in the forefront.”