Indonesia under pressure from US to include Ukraine at G20 summit

Indonesia refused to withdraw an invitation for Russian President Vladimir Putin and has said it wants to ‘remain impartial’ as rotating chair of the G20

The US and other G7 members are asking Jakarta to also invite Ukraine’s president, though this could turn the summit into a logistical and diplomatic nightmare

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Officials prepare exhibition stands at the venue for the G20 finance ministers and central governors meeting in Jakarta earlier this year. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:20am, 26 Apr 2022Updated: 10:22am, 26 Apr 2022

The United States is among nations pressing Indonesia to include Ukraine as a guest at the Group of 20 summit in November, frustrated at Jakarta’s refusal to withdraw an invitation for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The shift in tactics shows the diplomatic wrangling confronting Indonesia as G20 host this year, and the dilemma for member states including the US given Putin’s war in Ukraine, now entering its third month. Russia is a member of the G20, alongside countries like China and India, which have not joined sanctions on Moscow for its aggression.

The US and some other Group of Seven members are now asking Jakarta, which has said it wants to “remain impartial” as rotating chair of the G20, to extend an invitation for President Volodymyr Zelensky to attend at least some of the meeting, according to officials familiar with the matter. The White House declined to comment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shakes hands with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken before a meeting in Kyiv on Monday. Photo: Ukrainian Presidency via dpa

The host country traditionally invites a number of nations to join some aspects of the summit as observers, though they do not tend to sit in on the formal discussions.

Including Zelensky would make it even more of a logistical and diplomatic nightmare for Indonesia if Putin decided to attend the summit on the tropical island of Bali in person. And it is unclear if adding Ukraine would be enough to guarantee other leaders show up. At least some, including US President Joe Biden, would not sit at the same table as Putin either way, the officials said. It is unclear whether or how Indonesia could engineer a summit to allow Putin and Biden to avoid crossing paths.

The US is among those supporting Russia’s removal from the G20 entirely, though other countries including China oppose such a move. Russia was evicted from the smaller Group of Eight after Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

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