Russia’s Putin holds phone call with PM Modi, conveys his inability to attend G20 Summit in Delhi

Source: Mint | Original Published At: 2023-08-28 13:40:56 UTC

Key Points

• Putin and Modi discussed bilateral cooperation and global issues, including the BRICS Summit.
• Putin confirmed inability to attend G20 Summit in Delhi, citing 'busy schedule' and Ukraine military operations.
• Russia will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the G20 Summit.
• India thanked Russia for supporting its G20 Presidency initiatives.
• Putin skipped previous G20 and BRICS summits due to ICC arrest warrant concerns.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephonic conversation with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders reviewed progress on number of issues of bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the recently concluded BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.

Valdimir Putin conveyed his inability to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi on 9-10 September 2023 and informed that Russia would be represented by Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, H.E. Mr. Sergey Lavrov. While expressing an understanding for Russia’s decision, PM thanked President Putin for Russia’s consistent support to all initiatives under India’s G20 Presidency.

The two leaders agreed to remain in touch. The call between the two top leaders were held after reports last week indicated that Russian President will not personally attend the G20 summit to be held in New Delhi in September and the Kremlin announced on Friday, saying he has a ‘busy schedule’ and the main focus is still the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine.

The G20 world leaders’ summit is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10. The summit is expected to be one of the largest gatherings of world leaders in India. India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1, 2022, from Indonesia.

‘No, the president has no such plans,’ Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow. He said the format of Putin’s participation would be determined later. Russia launched a ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. India has been pressing for the resolution of the Ukraine conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.

Peskov recalled that Putin participated in this week’s BRICS summit in Johannesburg remotely. He was represented at the summit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. ‘Well, and after all, now he really has a busy schedule. And, of course, the main focus is still the special military operation. So direct travel is not on the agenda right now,’ the Kremlin spokesman was quoted as saying by the official Tass news agency.

The Russian president did not participate in the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia in November last year. President Putin decided against attending the first in-person BRICS summit after Covid-19 as the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March over an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia. South Africa is an ICC signatory and was expected to help in Putin’s arrest if he was present in the country.