Vladimir Putin has ‘no plans’ to attend G20 Summit, says Russia

Source: Hindustan Times | Original Published At: 2023-08-25 10:19:43 UTC

Key Points

• Putin will not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi in person.
• Putin skipped the BRICS summit in South Africa due to an ICC arrest warrant.
• ICC issued a warrant against Putin over alleged deportation of Ukrainian children.
• South Africa, as an ICC member, could have enforced the arrest warrant.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not personally attend the G20 summit to be held in New Delhi on September 9-10, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced here on Friday. Russia-Ukraine War: Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen. (AFP)

“No, the president has no such plans,” the official Tass news agency quoted the Kremlin spokesman as saying.

The format of Putin’s participation would be determined later, Peskov said.

Putin did not personally attend the just-concluded BRICS Summit in Johannesburg. He was represented by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

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.