President Putin did not attend last year’s G20 summit in Bali and similarly stayed away from the 15th BRICS summit that concluded in Johannesburg
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declined participation in the upcoming G20 leaders’ summit set to take place on September 9-10. Dmitry Peskov, the Press Secretary to the Russian President, communicated this decision to the Russian media. This aligns with Putin’s absence from various international summits since the onset of the Ukraine crisis in February 2022. Notably, he was expected to visit Turkey upon the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; however, this latest announcement has cast uncertainty on that planned visit as well.
Peskov explained, “Putin will not be attending the G20 summit in India scheduled for September. The current priority is the ongoing military operation in Ukraine.” This follows a pattern, as Putin also skipped last year’s G20 summit in Bali and was absent from the recent 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg. On those occasions, the Russian delegation was led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Numerous leaders have already confirmed their attendance at the G20 summit in India, including President Joe Biden, who will be in Delhi from September 7-10, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Earlier, the physical summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) under Indian leadership was canceled, preempting a potential visit by Putin to India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi instead conducted the SCO summit virtually on July 4, following India’s decision in May to forgo the physical format.
In June 2022, President Putin visited Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. During his Tajikistan visit, he discussed the aftermath of the 2021 Taliban takeover in Kabul with President Emomali Rahmon. In Turkmenistan, he participated in the Caspian Summit, focusing on enhancing land connectivity from South, West, and Central Asia to Russia.
Putin was slated to travel to Turkey to discuss the Black Sea Grain deal with President Erdogan, who has maintained ongoing communication with the Kremlin regarding the Ukraine situation. Turkish media initially reported that the visit was scheduled for the end of August, but Russian sources have not confirmed this visit as of Friday.
The Ministry of External Affairs has not issued a response to Peskov’s statements at this time.
