Russia’s long-standing foreign minister Sergey Lavrov will represent Moscow at the G20 meeting in Delhi, Russian President Vladimir Putin informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday during a telephone conversation.
According to the Indian readout on the conversation, Putin conveyed his inability to attend the G20 Summit on September 9 and 10 and said Lavrov would lead the Russian delegation.
“While expressing an understanding for Russia’s decision, Prime Minister thanked President Putin for Russia’s consistent support to all initiatives under India’s G20 presidency,” the readout added.
The Kremlin had announced on Friday that Putin would give the G20 in Delhi a miss but had till now not disclosed at what level Russia would be represented. From all indications, the nature of the Russian participation will be similar to last year’s G20 in Bali where Lavrov made the interventions. This time, too, there is no mention of Putin addressing the gathering via video conference, the way he did at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg last week.
