The Indonesian president has said that Putin and Xi will attend the G20 summit

Jakarta, Indonesia | Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will attend the G20 summit in November, Indonesia’s president – who currently chairs the forum of major world economies – said in an interview published on Friday.

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While Washington’s relations with Moscow and Beijing are at an all-time low due to the war in Ukraine and tensions surrounding Taiwan, the summit will see the two leaders align with US President Joe Biden.

It was uncertain whether Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi would travel to the Indonesian island of Bali to participate in the talks. Moscow has been isolated from the invasion of Ukraine, while the Chinese leader is restricting his foreign trips due to Covid-19.

But Indonesian President Joko Widodo told Bloomberg in an interview that the two leaders would attend the summit in person.

“Xi Jinping will come. President Putin also told me he would come,” Widodo was quoted as saying.

Officials in the Kremlin said in June that Mr. Putin Mr. They explained that they had accepted Widodo’s invitation, saying that the health situation associated with the pandemic allowed him to attend in person.

Joe Biden is also expected to travel to the summit, but the White House has yet to confirm details of the trip, including whether there will be a separate meeting with Xi in Bali.

The two leaders agreed on the principle of a meeting during a telephone interview in late July, which Mr. It will be the first since Biden took office, but no timetable has been announced.

“I don’t have any announcements of President Biden’s visit yet, but as you saw we participated in the G20 this year,” said a US spokesperson for the National Security Council.

If Putin attends the G20 summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should also attend.

Although Ukraine is not a member of the G20, Mr Zelensky was invited to the summit by Indonesia and said he would at least attend.

Jakarta came under Western pressure to exclude Vladimir Putin from the event after he announced his invitation in April, citing his neutral stance on Ukraine.

Joko Widodo traveled to both Kiev and Moscow earlier this year.

Indonesian authorities Mr. Widodo’s statements seem to confirm the presence of the two heads of state.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Diuku Baisasya told AFP that Russia and China had “received the invitation and said they will attend the summit”. It’s “something we’re really looking forward to,” he added.

For the Indonesian President’s comments, Mr. Widodo’s chief of staff declined to comment and his foreign secretary did not respond to AFP’s request.