“The president was clear on his view: This should not be the norm and Russia should not be part of it,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Thursday. “But, again, it ‘s six months away.” The White House is realistic that the G20 will not collectively remove Russia from its ranks, as the decision requires consensus, and China clearly does not support such a move. This makes a different scenario than when Russia was expelled from the G8 after the annexation of Crimea. “Indonesia wants to unite the G20. Let there be no division. Peace and stability are the keys to the recovery and development of the world economy,” said President Joko Widodo in a statement from Indonesia’s Cabinet on Friday. confirming that Putin had accepted his invitation to attend. Widodo also extended an invitation earlier this week to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who wrote on Twitter that he was “grateful” for the invitation, but did not say whether he would attend the summit. Widodo spoke with Putin and Zelensky in separate telephone conversations this week, during which he conveyed to the Russian president the importance of an “immediate” end to the war in Ukraine and Indonesia’s desire to contribute to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. according to the announcement. Widodo said he had conveyed to Zelensky Indonesia’s readiness to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine but not military aid, which he said was prohibited by Indonesia’s constitution and foreign policy principles. Confirmation of Putin’s participation creates a potentially complicated summit on the Indonesian island of Bali, which is scheduled to begin in early November. White House officials have considered a number of different scenarios, including the possible deployment of a lower-level delegation or remote participation. However, Biden’s self-immolation is still considered the most likely outcome, even if Putin is also there, according to officials. Earlier this month, finance ministers from several nations, including US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, walked out of a closed-door G20 summit in Washington as the Russian envoy began his prepared remarks, a protest against in Ukraine. Prior to the meeting, US officials had said that Yellen would not attend some of the rallies involving Russia. And Biden said during an emergency NATO summit in March that he would support Russia’s expulsion from the G20. Briefly, Biden said that Ukraine should be invited to participate. He said he had discussed the issue with other leaders during his meetings. CNN’s Jorge Engels contributed to this report.
