NEW DELHI: Russian President Vladimir Putin will stay away from the G20 summit being hosted by the Indian government in New Delhi in September.
Putin told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a phone conversation on Monday that he will be represented at the September 9-10 meeting by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“While expressing an understanding for Russia’s decision, PM thanked President Putin for Russia’s consistent support to all initiatives under India’s G20 Presidency,” Modi’s office said in a statement.
“The two leaders reviewed progress on number of issues of bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the recently concluded BRICS Summit in Johannesburg,” it said.
The Russian president also did not travel to South Africa to participate in the BRICS leadership meeting and addressed it via video link instead. – BERNAMA
