Justin Trudeau Told Jokowi That Putin's Presence In Indonesia Could Be A Problem For Canada

President Jokowi's meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the VVIP Lounge, Scottish Event Campus (Photo: BPMI Setpres)

JAKARTA - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued his stance regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin's plan to attend the G20 meeting in Indonesia. PM Trudeau doesn't want to see Putin in Indonesia.

Reporting from New Delhi Television Limited, Friday April 1, Trudeau reportedly said directly to President Jokowi that Putin's presence would not be productive for the G20.

Prime Minister Trudeau explicitly said that he was Russian President Vladimir Putin at this year's G20 meeting and cited Moscow's invasion of Ukraine as the reason.

Trudeau said he had shared his views with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who hosted a major economic meeting in November. He said Putin's presence would be "very difficult for us and unproductive for the G20."

"This is going to be a big problem for a lot of countries, including Canada," he told reporters in Ottawa.

Trudeau explained that the G20 summit is all about managing and driving economic growth around the world.

"Russia with its illegal invasion of Ukraine has turned economic growth upside down for everyone around the world and is unlikely to be a constructive partner in how we manage the crisis created by Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine," he added.

"The bottom line is it's impossible for business as usual to have Vladimir Putin just sitting around the table pretending that everything is fine, because it's not, and that's his fault."

US President Joe Biden said he supported expelling Russia from the main G20 economic group, while Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Putin should be barred from attending the group's summit in Bali.

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan responded to Indonesia's insistence on rejecting the arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit in Bali.

Luhut only emphasized that the G20 is an economic forum, not a political one. Therefore, according to Luhut, it is too early to talk about the arrival of state leaders, including Putin.

"We'll see, we'll wait. The G20 is an economic forum, so there's no political forum. We'll see, it's still too early to comment," said Luhut Pandjaitan in Nusa Dua, Badung, Bali, Thursday, March 24.

Luhut admitted that he did not know about the invitation from Indonesia to Putin to attend the G20 Summit in Bali.

"We'll see. That's what I said earlier, this is an economic forum, so we'll see," he said.

It was previously reported that Indonesia will continue to invite Russia to attend the G20 Summit which will be held at the end of October, amid heavy criticism over the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Lyudmila Vorobieva in her statement yesterday in Jakarta said Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to attend the G20 Summit in Bali.

He appreciated the position of the Government of Indonesia as the G20 Presidency, amid requests not to invite Russia to attend.