Russia has no moral right to sit at G-20, says Britain
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LONDON • Russia has no moral right to sit among the Group of 20 (G-20) nations while it presses on with its invasion of Ukraine, a spokesman for Britain's Foreign Ministry has said.
"Russia has no moral right to sit at the G-20 while its aggression in Ukraine persists," the spokesman said on Friday.
"We welcome Indonesia's efforts to ensure that the impacts of Russia's war are considered in G-20 meetings, as well as indications that Ukraine may be represented by President (Volodymyr) Zelensky at the G-20 Leaders' Summit."
Indonesia will host the summit in November and has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will attend.
Earlier on Friday, Mr Rishi Sunak, one of the two candidates vying to replace Mr Boris Johnson as British prime minister, called on the G-20 to bar Mr Putin from its meetings until Moscow halts the war in Ukraine.
A spokesman for former finance minister Sunak said: "Our G-20 partners and allies have a collective responsibility to call Putin's abhorrent behaviour out. Sitting round a table with him isn't good enough when he is responsible for children being killed in their beds as they sleep."
The campaign for the other candidate in the contest to replace Mr Johnson, current Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, referred to comments she made last month when she said it would be important to confront Mr Putin in front of allies like India and Indonesia.
"I would go there, and I would call Putin out," she told a televised debate on July 25.
US President Joe Biden is expected to attend the G-20 summit but the White House has not said whether he will meet Mr Xi. Chinese officials are reportedly making plans for a November meeting in South-east Asia between Mr Xi and Mr Biden, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
A spokesman for the White House National Security Council reiterated that Mr Biden did not think Mr Putin should attend "as he wages his war against Ukraine". But if Mr Putin did, Mr Zelensky - whom Indonesia has invited - should do likewise, the spokesman said.
REUTERS
