Washington said Friday that the world cannot deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin as usual after Indonesia invited him to attend the Group of 20 summit in November, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Assistant State Department spokesman Galina Porter told reporters: “The United States continues to believe that nothing can go wrong with regard to Russia’s participation in the international community or in international institutions,” according to AFP.
While she did not comment on a question about whether the United States would attend this summit or not.
These statements come after Indonesia announced Friday that it had invited Volodymyr Zelensky, stressing at the same time that it had invited Russia and its President Vladimir Putin to the next summit of the Group of Twenty scheduled for November.
Biden opposes
For her part, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that US President Joe Biden “publicly expressed his opposition to President Putin’s presence in the G-20,” while welcoming the Ukrainians’ invitation.
She also added that the United States is in contact with the Indonesians and that Russia’s invitation dates back to before the military operation in Ukraine that began on February 24.
heavy pressure
Indonesia, which chairs the Group of Twenty this year, has come under intense pressure from Westerners, led by the United States, to exclude Russia from the upcoming summit.
However, Jakarta insisted that as the host of the summit it had to stay “on the fence”.
