Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping apparently plan to attend the G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali. “Xi Jinping will come. President Putin has also told me he will come,” Indonesian President Yoko Widodo said in an interview with Bloomberg news agency released on Friday, Aug. 19.

Widodo sent Putin an invitation to the summit, but the Kremlin has yet to officially confirm the Russian president’s participation. Bloomberg has not received confirmation of the participation of the heads of state in the G20 summit from the Russian or Chinese sides.

Ambiguous attitude towards Putin’s participation

In the West, Putin’s participation in the G20 summit is considered problematic, as Vladimir Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, which is a target of armed aggression by Russia, was invited to the conference, among others. Western countries believe that Russia should be politically isolated because of the war in Ukraine and have questioned their participation in the G20 summit in Bali if Vladimir Putin also comes to the conference.

Relations between the United States and China have also deteriorated sharply in recent years. This was prompted by the recent visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the third political leader in the US after the president and vice president, as well as a group of US congressmen. In response, China carried out large-scale maneuvers near Taiwan. Beijing considers Taiwan a rebellious province of China and threatens to bring it back under its control if necessary.