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Russia open to Putin meeting Biden at G20, Lavrov says
Speaking on state television, Lavrov said Russia was willing to listen to any suggestions regarding peace talks, but that he could not say in advance what this process will lead to.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with US President Joe Biden prior to the US-Russia summit at the Villa La Grange, in Geneva on June 16, 2021. (AFP/Brendan Smialowski)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Russia will not turn down a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden at a forthcoming G20 meeting and would consider the proposal if it receives one.
Speaking on state television, Lavrov said Russia was willing to listen to any suggestions regarding peace talks, but that he could not say in advance what this process will lead to.
Last week, President Biden on Thursday did not rule out meeting with Putin during the G20 summit next month in Indonesia.
"That remains to be seen," the US leader told reporters when asked if he'd use the G20 gathering in Bali, as an opportunity to talk directly with Putin. The White House has previously said such a meeting is not excluded.
However, travel plans for both men remain unconfirmed and the White House has said that if Putin attends the G20 summit, then Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, should also participate, even if Ukraine is not a member of the group.
Biden has previously indicated he would be "sure" to see his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping if he is at the summit scheduled for November 15 and 16. It has been unclear whether Putin and Xi will attend.
Meanwhile, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is likely to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the margins of a regional summit in the Kazakh capital Astana this week, a Turkish official told AFP.
The official initially said the meeting would be on Wednesday, but later said it appeared Erdogan was likely to meet Putin on Thursday, according to the latest programme.
Erdogan is scheduled to fly to Astana on Wednesday for talks with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, said the Turkish official.
Turkey, which has stayed neutral throughout the conflict in Ukraine, has good relations with its two Black Sea neighbours -- Russia and Ukraine.
Erdogan has not yet commented on mass Russian strikes across Ukraine on Monday, which Ukrainian emergency services said killed at least 19 people and wounded more than 100.
But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held a telephone call with Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba after the attacks, a Turkish diplomatic source said, without elaborating further.
Erdogan met Putin on the sidelines of a regional summit in Uzbekistan last month.
The Turkish leader still hopes to bring Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky together for truce talks that neither side particularly wants but which Turkish officials insist are essential and realistic.
NATO member Turkey has refrained from joining Western sanctions against Russia.
Erdogan is keen to boost trade with Moscow as he tries to stabilise the battered Turkish economy in the run up to elections next June.
Last month Ankara bowed to pressure from the United States and confirmed the last three Turkish banks still processing Russian card payments were pulling the plug.
The decision followed weeks of increasingly blunt warnings from Washington for Turkey to either limit economic ties with Russia or face the threat of sanctions itself.
