Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Friday (29) that he had invited his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to the G20 summit to be held in November in Bali, an event in which Vladimir Putin confirmed his participation.
“I invited President Zelensky to attend the G20 summit,” Widodo said, suggesting an agreement was reached after pressure from Western countries to exclude Russia from the group in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.
In these discussions, Jakarta justified that her position obliged her to be “impartial”. The American president, Joe Biden, then proposed the participation of Ukraine to have a balance.
In a tweet published on Wednesday, Zelensky said he had been invited to the summit after a phone conversation with the Indonesian president. The next day, Widodo also spoke with the Russian leader. “At that moment, President Putin thanked Indonesia for the invitation to the G20 summit and said he would participate,” declared the host.
The United States today criticized Putin’s presence at the Bali summit. “You can’t pretend that nothing is happening regarding Russia’s participation within the international community and international institutions,” said State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter.
Since the beginning of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine in February, Western countries have tried to isolate Russia in the diplomatic field.
