The meeting of heads of state and government will be held in Bali on Nov 15 and 16. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Linda Yulisman
Indonesia Correspondent
PUBLISHED OCT 13, 2022, 7:43 PM SGT
JAKARTA – Indonesia, which holds the Group of 20 (G-20) presidency this year, is anticipating that all leaders of member countries will participate in the November summit, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Thursday.
So far, no countries have confirmed their absence, Indonesia’s G-20 co-sherpa Dian Triansyah Djani said. But he added that like in any other summit, attendance confirmation comes “at the last minute”.
The meeting of heads of state and government will be held at the resort island of Bali on Nov 15 and 16.
Speculation has swirled over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the summit in person in light of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin on Wednesday had been non-committal regarding Mr Putin’s attendance.
“A large number of international forums are planned for November,” the president’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“There is still a lot of time before the G-20, as well as before other forums – we’ll wait and see,” he added.
Earlier in August, Indonesian President Joko Widodo told Bloomberg that both Mr Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping had confirmed their attendance for the summit.
As G-20 president, Mr Widodo, who had travelled to Moscow on June 30 to deliver his invitation to the summit to Mr Putin in person, has also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukraine is not a member of the G-20.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a meeting between Mr Putin and United States President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G-20 summit would be considered if it is proposed, Russian news agency Tass reported on Tuesday.
Asked if he would meet Mr Putin at the G-20 summit, Mr Biden told CNN on Wednesday: “I think he’s committed war crimes. And so I don’t, I don’t see any rationale to meet with him now.”
As the host, Indonesia has also been under pressure from some member countries to exclude Moscow.
However, the G-20 president has resisted such calls and stepped up its diplomatic campaign with all members.
Indonesia succeeded in gathering all foreign ministers from the 20 largest economies in Bali on July 7 and 8, where Mr Lavrov and some of Russia’s staunchest critics of its war in Ukraine met in person for the first time since its invasion began on Feb 24.
Ms Retno acknowledged that differences and rivalry are inevitable in relations among nations. But wisdom and responsibility are necessary to avert their destructive impact on beneficial cooperation in the international arena, she stressed.
“Indonesia’s task as the G-20 president is to manage the extraordinary dynamics so that they will not destroy the whole architecture of the G-20,” she said on Thursday.
She also noted the challenges presented by multiple crises the world is facing, such as Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, escalating geopolitical tensions, as well as crises in food, energy and finance.
“The success of the G-20 does not depend on one or two countries, but all members. We need a collective responsibility to make the G-20 deliver.”
Indonesia has identified three issues for the grouping’s joint focus this year: strengthening global health architecture, shifting into renewable energy and enhancing digital transformation.
