NEW DELHI: Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be travelling to Delhi to attend the G-20 summit, the Kremlin has confirmed.
“President Putin is not planning a trip to the G20 Summit in India. His main emphasis is now a special military operation,” said President Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
As of now, the G20 Summit will be totally an in-person event, and no hybrid facility is open for people who do not attend in person. Unless there is an exception provided for President Putin to attend the Summit virtually (if it happens that will be a last-minute announcement), Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, who will attend the Summit on Putin’s behalf will be a part of the meetings — like he did was during the last Summit in Bali.
At present a few country leaders — US, Australia, Italy, Canada and South Korea — have confirmed their in-person participation. While PM Albanese was the first to confirm his participation, President Biden’s confirmation came just two days back.
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.
Meanwhile, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau during a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President, Voldomyr Zelenskyy said that he was disappointed that Zelenskyy was excluded from the list of invites for the G20 Summit in Delhi.
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.