Ukraine war: Australian PM Morrison says allowing Putin at Indonesia G20 summit ‘a step too far’

Scott Morrison said he had been in ‘direct contact’ with Indonesian President Widodo about the Russian leader’s attendance at the meeting in Bali

Moscow’s envoy to Jakarta said this week Putin intends to take part in the November summit amid calls for is exclusion from the group

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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 12:45pm, 24 Mar 2022

Allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to sit with other world leaders at this year’s G20 summit would be “a step too far”, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.

Putin has already been invited to the G20 heads of state summit in November by this year’s host Jakarta, and he intends to be there, Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia said this week.

But Morrison objected, citing Russia’s war in neighbouring Ukraine.

“I think we need to have people in the room that aren’t invading other countries,” he said.

The prime minister said he had been in “direct contact” with Indonesian President Joko Widodo about Putin’s attendance at the Group of 20 in Bali, which brings together the world’s top economies, including the United States, China, Japan and some European nations.

“Russia has invaded Ukraine. This is a violent and aggressive act that shatters the international rule of law,” Morrison told a news conference in Melbourne.