Russian President Vladimir Putin may skip next week's Group of Twenty (G20) leaders' meeting, according to his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo, the bloc's host.
Widodo stated last week that Putin had not ruled out attending the Bali meeting and would do so if possible.
"But if not ... maybe he'll ask to do it virtually," Widodo told reporters during a visit to Bali.
He said in his interview that Russia is still welcome to attend the summit despite the "very worrying" escalation in global tensions that he believed was overshadowing it.
Indonesia, which is hosting the G20, has resisted calls from Western nations and Ukraine to exclude Russia from the leaders' meeting and to oust it from the organization, arguing that it lacks the power to do so without agreement from all members.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Widodo emphasized that Russia is still welcome at the summit, which he worried was being eclipsed by a "very worrying" escalation in global tensions.
"The G20 is not meant to be a political forum," he said. "It's meant to be about economics and development."
To appease outside critics, Indonesia has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to appear, either in person or via video link. He also undertook a "peace mission" in Kyiv and Moscow earlier this year, offering to mediate the conflict and seeking grain supplies from conflict-torn eastern Ukraine.
Zelenskyy has stated that he will not participate if Putin does.
The presence of the Russian leader at the summit would surely dominate the proceedings, perhaps creating a situation in which leaders' attendance at critical sessions may be interpreted as a vote on their countries' positions on the Ukraine war. In this scenario, it is difficult to see how Indonesia's summit goals might be realized.
It's difficult to determine if the host countries, Indonesia and Cambodia, would embrace this change of events, despite the fact that the former's stakes may be significantly bigger. For Widodo, the summit will be significant.
The Indonesian president, who isn't renowned for being particularly interested in international politics, sees his country's G20 leadership as an opportunity to boost its stature on the world stage. Furthermore, Indonesia, which is concerned that the Russia-Ukraine conflict may overshadow its largely economic agenda, is undoubtedly interested in having all of the group's members, including Russia, participate.
