Russian President Vladimir Putin still plans to attend a summit of the G20 group of major economies in Indonesia later this year, says Lyudmila Vorobieva, Moscow’s ambassador to Jakarta.

However, on Wednesday, Ms Vorobieva admitted that the Russia-Ukraine war would determine if Mr Putin would attend.

“It depends on the situation. He (Putin) intends to come to the G20 summit,’’ she stated.

Ms Vorobieva added that the G20 was not the proper forum to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Expelling Russia won’t help the global economy,’’ the Russian diplomat added.

The G20 summit was scheduled for October 30 to 31 on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Western countries are considering excluding Russia from the G20 after it launched an invasion of its neighbour almost a month ago.

They have already slapped Russia with unprecedented sanctions over the attack, which has triggered a humanitarian crisis within Ukraine and an exodus of millions of people seeking safety in other European countries.

Last week, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Indonesia, which holds this year’s G20 rotating presidency, did not think the war in Ukraine should be discussed at the summit.

(dpa/NAN)