Kremlin-Putin Has No Plan To Attend G20 Summit In Person

Wires reporting comments from Kremlin spox Dmitri Peskov stating that President Vladimir Putin 'has no plan to attend G20 summit in person.' Says that Putin's focus is solely on the 'special military operation' in Ukraine. The G20 summit is taking place in the Indian capital, Delhi, from 9-10 September. The reasoning behind Putin's non-attendance is not as clear cut as his virtual appearance at the BRICS summit in South Africa over the past few days.

• South Africa is a signatory to the International Criminal Court's Rome statute, and therefore would have been obliged to detain Putin on arrival due to the international arrest warrant issued against the Russian leader.
• However, India is not a Rome statute signatory, and therefore Putin would have been able to travel to India unmolested. His non-attendance may have more to do with not wanting the situation of a number of western nations walking out of sessions he attends in person.