G20 to Hold Virtual Summit Tomorrow... Putin to Attend, Xi Jinping to Be Absent

The Group of Twenty (G20) will hold a virtual summit on the 22nd to discuss various international issues, including the war in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas.

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

On the 21st, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent invitations to all G20 leaders for the virtual summit.

Local Indian media reported that the virtual summit is expected to be attended by U.S. President Joe Biden, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who did not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi last September, has expressed his intention to participate in this summit. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov briefed the day before that President Putin will join the G20 virtual summit and deliver a speech. Putin is expected to explain Russia’s position on the war in Ukraine during the meeting.

Similarly, Chinese President Xi Jinping, who also did not attend the September G20 summit, is expected to skip this meeting as well. Instead, Premier Li Qiang, who attended the September summit, will participate, according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 21st.

The virtual meeting is expected to focus on policy proposals and progress on goals that were raised during the in-person meeting in September. Additionally, opinions on the war in Ukraine and the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas are also anticipated to be exchanged.

However, local media reported that no joint document summarizing the discussions is expected to be released. At the previous in-person meeting in September, there were concerns that a joint declaration would be difficult to issue due to the absence of President Xi and President Putin, but a joint declaration was adopted following India’s mediation. Nevertheless, direct references to the war in Ukraine were excluded from the declaration after disagreements between China, Russia, and Western countries.

India, as the G20 chair country, will hand over the chairmanship baton to Brazil on the 1st of next month after concluding this final virtual summit it hosts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.