Canada Attends G20 Summit Even If Putin Leaves: Trudeau

Canada will attend the G20 summit in Bali in November even if Russian President Vladimir Putin is present, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday.

Indonesia holds the rotating presidency of the G20, and Jakarta has come under Western pressure to ban the Russian president from the gathering, despite announcing in April that he had been invited.

Asked at a press conference at the end of a NATO summit in Madrid whether Ottawa would attend the gathering if Putin was also present, Trudeau said: “We expect Canada and all members of the G7 to be at the G20.”

“It is too important to talk about the global economy. It is too important that we are there to counter the voice and lies that Russia may utter. There are still a few months to go and anything can happen,” he added.

The G7 also includes Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

Like most major emerging economies, Indonesia has sought to maintain a neutral stance and has called for a peaceful resolution to Russia’s months-long offensive in Ukraine.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo met Putin in Moscow on Thursday, a day after he held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Widodo also invited Zelensky to the summit on November 15 and 16 in Bali. Ukraine’s President told Widodo on Wednesday that he will attend the summit depending on who else is attending.

Putin attended the G20 summit in Rome last October via video conference due to the coronavirus pandemic.