Vladimir Putin may attend G20 summit in India: Report

Russian President Vladimir Putin will most likely participate in the G20 Leaders Summit in India in September. The Russian leader had earlier missed the G20 summit in Rome in 2021 and in Bali, Indonesia in 2022.

It is being said that the Kremlin is looking at Putin's schedule and are trying to clear all his engagements for the G20 Summit in India in September, insiders familiar with the planning said. They want the Russian leader to participate in the summit since he had skipped the earlier two.

No official statement from the Kremlin yet

Though there is no official statement from the Kremlin about Putin's participation in the G20 Leaders Summit in India, but people are speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans. However, one thing the comes across clear is that the Kremlin wants him to be a part of the leaders gathering.

Russia changes dates of its annual economic forum

Just before the G20 Summit, an annual economic forum is scheduled to take place in Vladivostok, Russia. This week, officials shifted the dates for the annual economic forum to a week later. This will give Putin greater flexibility to attend. Meanwhile, it will also help the leaders of India and China to be present in the forum in Vladivostok, insiders added.

Meanwhile, the United States and its allies have isolated Russia over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, the Kremlin defiance is growing due to these efforts.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment.

India formally invited Russia for the G20 Leaders Summit

India has formally invited Russia to attend the G20 Summit and the latter has accepted it. Putin, however, skipped the summit last year in Bali amid pressure from the U.S. and its allies over the Ukraine war. He sent his foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in his place. The Russian leader also missed the summit in Rome in 2021 when he was planning his invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin has found itself a little less isolated in the group since November. During the G20 foreign ministers meeting in New Delhi in March, both China and Russia refused to talk about the Ukraine war. The Chair's Summary and Outcome Document, which was agreed upon by all members, retained the words of the G20 Bali Leaders' Declaration (November 15-16, 2022) regarding the Russia-Ukraine war. The said countries teamed up to block India, the host country, from negotiating a compromise with Ukraine.

Russia has hardened its stance since the fall after the U.S. and its allies agreed to step up weapons supplies to Ukraine early this year, according to an insider. The First G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting in Bengaluru, India in February under the country's presidency failed to reach a consensus on Ukraine.

At the finance minister meet, India wanted to focus on other issues affecting developing nations. "We tried, but the gap between the countries was too much," India's foreign minister S Jaishankar said.

Russia has stopped sending senior economic officials to such gatherings, seeing their participation as meaningless, according to insiders familiar with the decisions.

Xi Jinping to visit Russia

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has said that Chinese president Xi Jinping will visit Moscow this year for trade talks despite sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and its allies over Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

India's participation depends of PM Narendra Modi

India, on the other hand may in most likelihood send a government minister to represent the country at Putin's annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June this year, said insiders who are familiar with the plans. A final call will be taken by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

There was no annual in-person summit between Modi and Putin last year. This is the first time the annual meeting didn't take place in two decades. India and Russia are continuing with established diplomatic engagements despite unease in New Delhi over Russia's war in Ukraine. India hasn't joined the U.S. and European countries in sanctioning Russia. Trade between both the countries have surged since the invasion.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met briefly on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi in the beginning of this month. He said that that U.S. and the West would stand by Ukraine "for as long as it takes," a senior state department official remarked.

Blinken also urged Russia to rejoin the New START Treaty. Putin has recently withdrawn from the nuclear arms control treaty.