Isolated by West, Russia's Vladimir Putin will not attend G20 summit in Bali

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been shunned by the West over his offensive in Ukraine, will not travel to Indonesia for the G20 leaders' summit next week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via a video link at a residence outside Moscow, Russia, 19 October, 2022. via REUTERS - SPUTNIK

Indonesian and Russian officials said on Thursday that Russia would instead be represented at next week's summit by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The Russian president is, however, set to join one of the meetings virtually.

As G20 host, Indonesia has resisted pressure from Western countries and Ukraine to withdraw Putin's invitation to the summit and expel Russia from the group over the war in Ukraine, saying it does not have the authority to do so without consensus among members.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo had been attempting to mediate the geopolitical friction between powers in the G20.

❗️Russia at the G20 summit will be represented by Sergey Lavrov : Peskov

Dmitry Peskov confirmed the information that Vladimir Putin will not go personally to the G20 summit. Earlier, the Russian Embassy in Indonesia said that Vladimir Putin could speak online at some meetings pic.twitter.com/MHV5eKT7UC

— OsintTv📺 (@OsintTv) November 10, 2022

• Russia's Lavrov walks out of G20 talks as West presses Moscow over Ukraine
• Putin announces partial military mobilisation ‘to defend’ Russia against West

'Worrying' rise in tensions 

Meetings this year have seen walkouts and threats of boycotts sparked by tensions over the invasion, which Russia calls a "special operation".

The Indonesian president said in a recent interview that Russia was welcome at the summit, which he feared would be overshadowed by a "very worrying" rise in international tensions.

"The G20 is not meant to be a political forum. It's meant to be about economics and development," he was quoted as saying by The Financial Times.

Indonesia has also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has said he would not take part if Putin does and was expected to join virtually.

A number of other world leaders are due to attend the summit that starts on 15 November, including US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

(with newswires)