NEW DELHI: The Kremlin on Friday said Russian president Vladimir Putin is not planning to physically attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, scheduled to be held from September 9-10.
The Russian president's main focus is currently on the "special military operation" in Ukraine, said spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. He added that the format of Putin's participation would be determined later.
Earlier this week, Putin did not physically attend the Brics summit in South Africa as the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant against him, accusing him of war crimes in Ukraine. South Africa is a signatory to the ICC. The Kremlin, however, denied that this was the reason for Putin's absence.
India is not a signatory to the ICC.
US President Joe Biden will travel to India for the summit during which he will discuss with other leaders a range of global issues, including the Ukraine conflict, the White House had announced on August 22.
Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron, are also expected to attend the summit.
The representatives of nine "guest countries" - Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and the United Arab Emirates - have also been invited by India for the summit.
The summit will be held on September 9-10 at the newly-built Bharat Mandapam convention centre in Delhi's Pragati Maidan, under India's presidency.
Officials and leaders of the world's largest economies will start arriving in the national capital from September 8.
The 18th G20 Leaders’ Summit will be a culmination of all the G20 processes and meetings held throughout the year among ministers, senior officials and civil society.
(With inputs from agencies)