JakartaPost-Mar 24, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to come to Bali for the Group of 20 (G20) Summit hosted by Indonesia later this year, the nation’s envoy in Jakarta proclaimed on Wednesday, despite growing calls from the West to kick Moscow out of the global economic forum over its ruinous war in Ukraine. This has put first-time G20 president Indonesia in the difficult position of welcoming an increasingly isolated leader who ordered the widely criticized invasion, which has pushed global economic recovery from COVID-19 back to the brink of uncertainty, potentially taking the focus away from Jakarta’s own priorities for the club of the world’s largest economies. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Lyudmila Vorobieva underlined the fact that Russia was still invited to the G20 Summit despite “horrible pressure” from Western countries and said its delegation would continue to participate in various events in the lead-up to the highly anticipated meeting. “It will depend on many things including the [improving] COVID-19 situation, but so far, yes […] he wants to come,” Vorobieva said in response to a question from the press. Jakarta and Moscow have been preparing for Putin’s visit to Indonesia for years, as he has yet to reciprocate President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s visit to Sochi in 2016. His last visit to Indonesia was during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Bali in 2013. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/world/2022/03/23/putin-wants-to-attend-g20-summit-despite-potential-boycott.html.
