Foreign ministers from the Group of 20 major developed and fast-growing economies will start a two-day meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali on Thursday, focusing on how to tackle food and energy shortages and other challenges posed by Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are set to attend the meeting in the resort town of Nusa Dua, where the G-20 ministers on Friday will also discuss cooperation in dealing with rising global inflation. A Lavrov-Blinken bilateral meeting is not expected, according to the US State Department.

It would be Lavrov's first appearance at a multilateral gathering attended by the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries since the war in Ukraine began in late February, Kyodo News reported.

The ministers will be welcomed by Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi at a dinner Thursday evening, with substantive discussions to be held the next day.

With tensions over the Ukraine war intensifying, attention is focused on whether foreign ministers from Western nations will walk out in protest at Russia's invasion when Lavrov speaks.

At a meeting of the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Washington in April, the US, Canadian and European delegations left their seats when Russian officials participating virtually were about to speak. But Japan did not join the boycott.

While the United States, European countries and Japan have been strengthening their economic sanctions against Moscow, some G-20 members such as China and India have not joined in.

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