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Russia not allowed to use G20 meeting in Bali as platform: Germany
"It is in the interest of us all to ensure that international law is respected and adhered to. That is the common denominator," said Baerbock in a statement on Wednesday.
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Co-leader of Germany's Green Party (Die Gruenen) Annalena Baerbock delivers a speech at the party's meeting with their members in the federal states on the results of the coalition negotiations, in Berlin on November 25, 2021. (AFP/Tobiaz Schwarz)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said ahead of her trip to Indonesia that Russia must not be allowed to use the G20 meeting this week as a platform given its war in Ukraine.
"It is in the interest of us all to ensure that international law is respected and adhered to. That is the common denominator," said Baerbock in a statement on Wednesday.
"And it is also the reason why we will not simply stand aside and allow Russia to use the meeting as a platform."
Speaking ahead of the G20 meeting, German foreign ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner said it would not be a "normal summit" nor "business as usual".
Germany holds the presidency of the Group of Seven industrialised nations and would coordinate in Bali over how to respond to Lavrov in light of the war in Ukraine, he said.
Top officials from Britain, Canada and the United States walked out on Russian representatives during a G20 finance meeting in Washington in April.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would be an active participant at the meeting while "also staying true to another over-riding objective, and that is the fact that it cannot be business as usual with the Russian Federation", a US state department spokesperson said.
Blinken will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Bali, but no meeting is expected with Lavrov.
During a trip to Vietnam on Wednesday, Russia's Lavrov called on all parties in the world to make efforts to protect international laws as "the world is evolving in a complicated manner."
His comments ahead of his arrival in Bali come as Russia has been accused by Western countries of breaching international law through its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special operation".
