Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the Group of 20 leaders' Summit in Bali next week, Moscow's embassy in Jakarta told AFP on Thursday.

It was the first Russian confirmation that Putin will not travel to the resort island of Bali for the summit, which would have put him in the same room as United States President Joe Biden for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine in February.

Biden has called Putin a "war criminal" and ruled out meeting him in Bali if he went unless the conversation involved the release of Americans held in Russia.

"I can confirm that [foreign minister] Sergei Lavrov will lead the Russian delegation to the G20. President Putin's program is still being worked out, he could participate virtually," said Yulia Tomskaya, the embassy's chief of protocol.

The decision follows months of speculation about Putin's participation at the Nov. 15-16 summit.

The Kremlin is expected to try and shield itself from Western condemnation over the war, in which its forces are suffering setbacks in the face of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Another source with knowledge of Russia's G20 planning confirmed that Putin would be replaced by Lavrov.

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