Moscow

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend the G20 Summit in India next week after President Vladimir Putin announced his plan to skip the leaders’ Summit.

Under India’s presidency, the G20 (Group of Twenty) Summit is scheduled to take place on September 9 and 10 and the theme– Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or One Earth • One Family • One Future – is drawn from the ancient Sanskrit text of the Maha Upanishad.   

According to the statement, released by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov is expected to attend two plenary sessions: on September 9, there will be the One Planet session on sustainable development and promoting steady economic growth, and on September 10, the Foreign Minister will speak at the One Future session highlighting key matters of promoting democracy and strengthening the role of the countries belonging to the global majority within global economic governance institutions, as well as achieving digital transformation.

Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to hold several bilateral talks and contacts on the sidelines of the summit.

We would like to note the unifying nature of India’s G20 Presidency, the country’s commitment to promoting the interests of the developing countries and creating a constructive atmosphere at the forum. The summit is expected to make a decision on accepting the African Union as a permanent G20 member. We welcome this step. Russia was among the first to support this initiative and contributed to carrying it out, Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in the briefing, as per the statement.