Without Putin, the Russian chancellor lands in Bali for the G20 summit

On Sunday (13) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in the Indonesian island of Bali to attend the G20 summit, in which he will represent President Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin, on Friday (11), justified the Russian president’s absence from the summit by “scheduling problems”, but the decision is understood as a sign of isolation and protectionism in the face of criticism amid the military intervention in Ukraine.

The Russian minister got off an official Russian plane at Denpasar Airport from Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, where he participated in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.

In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry urged the G-20 to focus on the economic issues for which this forum, which includes the world’s largest economies was designed, rather than security issues.

“We categorically reject the politicization of the G20, the intentionally inclusion of irrelevant and conflicting issues in the discussions, and the isolation of participants on the basis of false accusations,” he said.

Still in Cambodia, Lavrov accused the United States of wanting to militarize the Asia-Pacific region to contain China.

“The United States and its allies, as well as NATO, are trying to invade the Asia-Pacific region,” the Russian foreign minister told reporters in Phnom Penh.

“They are clearly planning to militarize this region to contain China and limit Russian interests in the region,” he insisted.

Southeast Asia is the scene of a growing rivalry between the United States and China, which are facing each other in a struggle for economic and security influence.

USA President , Joe Bidenarrives in Bali on Sunday night.

Ahead of the summit on Tuesday and Wednesday, he will meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in a context marked by their differences over the North Korean missile crisis and Taiwan’s “status”.

Beijing also views the Quadruple Alliance, a security group that includes Australia, the United States, Japan and India, as an attempt to isolate it in Asia.