On the sidelines of the summit, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held meetings with G20 colleagues who were also absent from the meeting, said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry
Sergei Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was absent from the G20 meeting, as he held bilateral meetings with colleagues from other G20 countries, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told RBC.
Earlier, Reuters, citing the Ukrainian delegate, reported that Lavrov left the G20 meeting during a speech via video link by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.
“In the accounts and on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they published online messages about Lavrov’s meetings on the sidelines of the forum. It is a traditional practice to hold bilateral meetings on the margins of the meeting. And he saw them off, drum roll, with the G20 ministers, who were also not at the meeting at that moment, — Zakharova said.
Kuleba called on the G20 countries to give a decisive response to Russian actions in Ukraine. “Honestly, I believe that after everything that Russia has done over the past six months, it has no place in any international forums,” — quotes the Ukrainian minister “European Truth”, which notes that Lavrov was not at the meeting.
On the eve of the G20 ministerial meeting in Indonesia, the country's foreign minister — Hostess of this year's summit, Retno Marsudi, noted the tension and said that the G7 countries refused to send their representatives to a welcome dinner, where Lavrov was present, Reuters wrote.
According to Kyodo, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and representatives of several other countries avoided posing for joint photos with the Russian minister. The G20 even canceled the traditional group photo. Lavrov then stated that “he did not invite anyone to take pictures with him.”
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Zakharova, commenting on the progress of the G20 ministerial meeting, said that the Western press is busy at the summit finding out “who boycotted whom as a result” and is following the movements of ministers.
“Neither food, nor migration, nor energy is relevant to the West today. The mainstream has an order: work out the boycott at any cost, even if it already causes laughter from everyone present, — she wrote in her Telegram channel.
An Indonesian Foreign Ministry source told Reuters that no joint statement is expected following the G20 foreign ministers' meeting on July 8. The head of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said that the country has created a “comfortable atmosphere for all” and noted that for the first time since the end of February, representatives of the leading countries of the world have gathered in one room.
G20 (Big Twenty)— a club of states with developed and developing economies that annually hold summits. In 2022, Indonesia became the host of the summit, and it is planned to hold a meeting of the leaders of the participating countries in November in Bali. Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in this meeting, the Foreign Ministry said, but in person or via video link has not yet been determined.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo previously visited Moscow and Kyiv. He said he was going to call on the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to dialogue about peace. Widodo invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the G20 summit.
The deterioration of relations between Russia and the West occurred against the backdrop of a Russian special operation in Ukraine. The United States, EU members and other countries began to impose sanctions against Russia and provide military assistance to Kyiv. Russia explained the need for a special operation with the protection of the population of Donbass and the threat from NATO.
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