Putin plans a swift exit from G20
Print Edition
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin plans to leave the G20 summit early, a member of his delegation said, after Western leaders blasted Moscow for the crisis in Ukraine and threatened more sanctions.
The Russian official said Putin planned to skip a working session today at the two-day summit in Brisbane and bring forward his departure because he needed to attend meetings in Moscow.
Russia denied it was involved in a recent escalation of military activity in Ukraine, where fighting has claimed more than 4,000 lives, but faced strong rebukes from Western leaders, including US President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“I guess I’ll shake your hand but I have only one thing to say to you: you need to get out of Ukraine,” Harper told Putin at the summit, according to his spokesman Jason MacDonald.
Putin’s response to the comment wasn’t positive, MacDonald said in an e-mail, without elaborating.
Obama said Russian “aggression against Ukraine” was a threat to the world, while the European Council demanded Moscow withdraw troops and weapons from the neighboring nation and put pressure on rebels to accept a cease-fire.
Speaking on the sidelines of the summit, Obama placed security and climate change at the center of the leaders meeting, overshadowing talks on how to lift flagging global economic growth.
Obama said the United States was at the forefront of “opposing Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which is a threat to the world, as we saw in the appalling shoot-down of MH17.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the European Union was considering further financial sanctions against Russian individuals because of the crisis in Ukraine.
Europe’s foreign ministers are due to meet tomorrow to assess the situation in Ukraine and deliberate on whether further steps, including additional sanctions, were needed against Russia, said European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.
Putin’s isolation at the G20 summit was also evident with his placing on the outer edge for the formal leaders photograph. And while Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping were met by Australia’s governor general and attorney general when they arrived in Brisbane, Putin was met by the assistant defense minister.
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