Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, has decided not to join the G20 summit happening in New Delhi.

Last year, President Putin was absent from the G20 summit held in Bali, and similarly, he chose not to participate in the recently concluded 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t attend the G20 leaders’ summit scheduled for September 9-10, as stated by Dmitry Peskov, the Press Secretary to the Russian President. This follows a pattern seen in other international gatherings since the Ukraine crisis began in February 2022, where Putin has been absent. Initially, there were expectations of his visit to Turkey upon President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s invitation, but this recent announcement raises doubts about that visit.

Peskov said, “Putin won’t be going to the G20 summit in India in September.We are presently concentrating on the ongoing military operation in Ukraine. Putin was also missing from the previous year’s G20 summit in Bali and didn’t attend the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg. On both occasions, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov led the Russian delegation.

Several leaders have confirmed their attendance at the G20 summit in India. President Joe Biden plans to visit Delhi from September 7-10, while Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed his travel arrangements. Earlier, there was speculation about Putin’s visit to India. In July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted the SCO summit virtually, as India had decided in May not to hold it in person.

Despite these absences, Putin visited Tajikistan and Turkmenistan in June 2022. During his Tajikistan visit, he discussed the aftermath of the Taliban’s 2021 takeover in Kabul with President Emomali Rahmon. In Turkmenistan, he engaged in the Caspian Summit, aiming to enhance land connectivity between South, West, Central Asia, and Russia.

People anticipated that Putin would journey to Turkey to talk with Erdogan about the Black Sea Grain deal, as Erdogan maintained close contact with the Kremlin regarding the Ukraine situation. As of now, the Ministry of External Affairs hasn’t responded to Peskov’s statements.