Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be invited to the G20’s November summit in Brazil unless all members of the organization agree, according to remarks made by French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday.
“The meaning of this club is that there must be consensus with the 19 others. That will be a job for Brazilian diplomacy,” he said during a joint press conference in Brasilia with his counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Macron stated that if such a meeting might be “useful, it must be done,” but he cautioned that disagreements on the subject could prevent any Russian offer.
As the current chair of the G20, which represents 80% of the world economy, Brazil has argued that Western nations and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky bear some of the culpability for the war, and has opposed the US-led effort to isolate and punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Putin stayed away from the G20 meeting in New Delhi, India, last year to avoid potential political backlash and the possibility of being detained illegally on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant.
Lula declared in September 2023 that there was “no way” Putin would be detained if he went to the summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Soon after, he changed his mind and declared that the legal system, not his administration, would ultimately determine whether or not to arrest Putin.
