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Kremlin says it will wait and see before deciding on Putin's G20 participation
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was responding to a question about calls by some leaders of G20 countries to exclude Putin from the summit over his decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.
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In this file photo taken on December 17, 2020, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov sits in front of a screen displaying Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing his annual press conference via a video link from the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, at the World Trade Centre's congress centre in Moscow. (AFP/Natalia Kolesnikova)
The Kremlin said on Thursday that it would make a decision on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a G20 summit later this year in Indonesia based on how events evolve.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was responding to a question about calls by some leaders of G20 countries to exclude Putin from the summit over his decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.
"We will clarify this, after all Indonesia is the organiser," said Peskov.
Russia's ambassador to Indonesia said last month that Putin intended to travel to the Indonesian resort island of Bali for the G20 summit in November despite opposition from Western countries in the group.
Also on Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that Russia should be expelled from the G20 major economies forum, and the United States will boycott some G20 meetings if Russian officials show up.
Yellen, who spoke at a US House Financial Services Committee hearing, was referring to an April 20 G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting, a Treasury spokesperson said – raising questions about the forum's role in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Since 2008, the club has addressed issues from COVID-19 relief to cross-border debt. It also includes countries such as China, India and Saudi Arabia that have been reluctant to condemn the invasion, which Russia calls a "special military operation".
Yellen told lawmakers that Russia's invasion and the killings of civilians in the town of Bucha "represent an unacceptable affront to the rules-based global order and will have enormous economic repercussions."
The United States and allies have placed greater emphasis in recent months on the G7 grouping of industrial democracies, whose interests are more aligned, using those meetings to coordinate their response to Russia's war.
Yellen said the Biden administration wants to push Russia out of active participation in major international institutions, though it was unlikely it could be expelled from the International Monetary Fund given its rules.
"President Biden's made it clear... that it cannot be business as usual for Russia in any of the financial institutions," Yellen said.
