Russian President Vladimir Putin has received an official invitation to the G20 Leaders' Summit to be held in South Africa. The decision on the level of Russian representation will be made personally by the head of state.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has received an official invitation to the summit of the G20 leaders to be held on November 21-22 in Johannesburg (South Africa). This was announced in an interview with RIA Novosti on the margins of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) by Marat Berdyev, Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"Last week we received an official invitation. This is an address of the head of state - the President of South Africa - to his colleagues. <...> Of course, the decision on this matter will be made directly by the head of the Russian state Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin," the diplomat said.
Berdyev specified that the final decision on the level of participation is traditionally made closer to the date of the summit, taking into account a number of factors, including the general agenda and the possibility of reaching important agreements. He also recalled that in the past few years the Russian delegation at the G20 summits has been represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“I would not prejudge the decisions of the head of state, but if we start from the practice of recent years, probably, in the case of participation not at the level of the head of state, such a scenario is quite likely,” Berdyev added.