Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was supposed to address the much-awaited G20 Summit virtually, is reportedly not planned to address the mega event, Russian news agency, RT News, reported citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Notably, the major development came days after the Kremlin cleared the air by confirming that the Russian President will not be visiting its "all-weather" ally, India, for G20 Leaders Summit in New Delhi. The summit is scheduled for September 9 and 10 in the newly inaugurated ITPO complex in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
Will Putin's absence cast a shadow on the G20 Summit?
Notably, the surprising announcement from the Kremlin came a day after President Putin attended the crucial BRICS Summit virtually and instead sent his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to South Africa's national capital Johannesburg, where the leaders of Brazil, India, and China attended the mega event in person with the host South Africa.
Currently, India's capital has been donning multi-coloured lights and artists are busy designing the finest illustrations on the walls alongside the route of the mega event, Russia's decision to skip the event may cast a shadow on one of its top defence exporters amid the fact the whole world has been eyeing on the much-anticipated meeting which will witness the attendance of US President Joe Biden, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and several other leaders.
Like BRICS, the Kremlin had announced Foreign Minister Sergi Lavrov would attend the meeting.
What does India say about Putin's absence?
However, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar asserted his absence would not cast any shadow on the mega event in Delhi.
Speaking to the news agency ANI, he said, "I think at different points of time in G20 there have been some presidents or PMs who for whatever reason, have chosen not to come themselves but that country, and that country’s position is obviously reflected by whoever is the representative on that occasion. So, you had some occasions where you had a president or two, sometimes three, who have not themselves come.”
“I do not think it has anything to do with India. Whatever decision they make, they would know best,” he added.
