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'Strong impression' Putin will skip G20 summit: Jokowi
Jokowi said a conversation with Putin last week left him with a "strong impression" the Russian leader would not attend the meeting in Bali, which is expected to be dominated by tensions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo talks to The Jakarta Post's journalists during an interview at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on November 2, 2022. (JP/Abdur Rahim)
Russian President Vladimir Putin may miss next week's G20 leaders summit, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and host of the bloc of major economies told media on Monday.
Jokowi said a conversation with Putin last week left him with a "strong impression" the Russian leader would not attend the meeting in Bali, which is expected to be dominated by tensions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The foreign ministry and presidential palace did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
As G20 host, Indonesia has resisted pressure from Western countries and Ukraine to disinvite Russia from the leaders summit and expel it from the group, saying it does not have the authority to do so without a consensus among all members.
Jokowi emphasised in an interview with the Financial Times that Russia remains welcome at the summit, which he feared was being overshadowed by a "very worrying" rise in international tensions.
"The G20 is not meant to be a political forum. It's meant to be about economics and development," he said.
Last week, Jokowi said Putin told him in a phone call Wednesday his attendance at the two-day gathering on the resort island of Bali remains up in the air.
"He (Putin) wanted to attend but cannot decide at the moment," he said Friday.
He said in August that Putin had accepted Jakarta's invite to the summit on November 15-16, despite Western pressure to bar Moscow from the meeting and in the face of the Kremlin's growing international isolation.
But the warring sides remain locked in a protracted conflict that Kyiv says has left 4.5 million Ukrainians without power during the cold of winter.
Indonesia has also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has said he will not take part if Putin does. Russia calls the invasion of Ukraine a "special operation".
Several other world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, are expected to attend.
