Putin will not take part in G20 summit via video call - Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not planning to tune in to this weekend’s Group of 20 summit via video call, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

Putin is not making the trip to New Delhi for the G20 meeting of major industrialised nations because he says he wants to stay in Moscow and concentrate on the war in Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would instead handle major matters related to the summit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

In August, Putin did use video calls to take part in a BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China und South Africa) summit in Johannesburg.

He did not attend in person because of the fear of arrest in South Africa.

An arrest warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

It is unclear whether he risked arrest in India.

His attention is likely to be on regional elections in Russia this Sunday anyway.

Elections would also be held in territories occupied in Ukraine in violation of international law.

Neither Ukraine nor the majority of the international community recognise the elections in the occupied zones.