Officially, it is for questions related to "his agenda" and the "need for him to be in Russia" that Moscow has pretexted the absence of Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit which officially begins this Tuesday in Bali (Indonesia ).
But he will be represented by his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, who arrived on the island this Sunday.
Mired in the war in Ukraine, the head of the Kremlin will nevertheless be a very present absentee at this summit which brings together the great economic powers of this world.
Because no one is fooled, behind the subjects of cooperation, it is the conflict that has been playing out for more than eight months on the borders of Europe that will be at the heart of all the debates.
With this major question: how to put pressure to enter as quickly as possible into a logic of de-escalation?
“The G20 is not the United Nations Security Council”
“We are in a complex situation.
First because Russia is a member of the G20 and also because the G20 is not the United Nations Security Council.
It has no competence to deal with issues of security or international peace.
It is a club of economic cooperation above all, ”admits the Elysée.
Nevertheless: “We cannot be in business
as usual (business continues, as if nothing had happened)
.
Heads of state who gather in the same place must ultimately send a message of peace”, agrees the Palace, which hopes to show Putin “that a coalition is forming against his war”.
Emmanuel Macron, who will land this Monday evening in Bali, intends in this sense to obtain some clarifications from a certain number of countries, such as China and India, which have so far remained very cautious, in particular by refusing to condemn the Russian offensive.
The President of the Republic has thus planned to meet one-on-one with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, but also with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
No scheduled exchange, however, with the head of Russian diplomacy Lavrov.
“It goes without saying…”, estimates the Elysée.
