We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.
Phnom Penh: Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister has refused to say whether Russia is willing to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Moscow takes aim at United States-backed military deals in the Indo-Pacific including Australia’s AUKUS defence pact.
The US has been seeking to convince Zelensky to be open to negotiations with Putin nine months after he launched his invasion on Ukraine.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the ASEAN summit on Sunday.Credit:James Brickwood
Zelensky, however, indicated last week he would only consider peace talks if they were held on his terms, leaving it unclear whether Russia would be willing to meet that demand.
“Zelensky is not here,” Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said from the ASEAN summit on Sunday, when asked about the Kremlin’s preparedness to speak to the Ukrainian leader.
Putin’s long-time top diplomat addressed leaders at the 18-nation East Asia summit and spoke to Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi directly after the meeting before flying to Bali for the G20.
Pressed on his message to leaders in Phnom Penh as he left the summit conference room in the Cambodian capital with Marsudi, Lavrov snapped at The Sydney Morning and The Age: “You’re not very polite. I’m talking to the lady.”
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese at the summit on Sunday.Credit:James Brickwood
The meeting was also attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and United States President Joe Biden, who are also headed for Bali.
Albanese said he directly challenged Lavrov in his speech to the summit.
“I pointed out that Russia’s actions were causing enormous human toll, that it was an illegal invasion that was having an impact on the people of Ukraine. But also it was a breach of the international rule of law, and that it was having economic consequences and rising costs of inflation, through energy prices throughout the world,” the prime minister said.
“And I condemned the invasion as you would expect. My comments in the room with him present were consistent with the comments that I’ve made publicly and privately over a long period of time since the invasion.”
At a press conference later on Sunday, Lavrov accused the US and its allies of trying to militarise the region “with an obvious focus on containing China, and containing Russian interests in the Asia-Pacific.”
“The United States and its NATO allies are trying to master this space,” he said.
Lavrov raised alarm about the US building on security ties in the region under its AUKUS defence agreement with Australia and Britain in the lead-up to Sunday’s summit, according to Russian news agency TASS.
The European Union and Britain are encouraging like-minded attendees at the G20 to snub Lavrov and walk out of the summit when it is addressed by the Russian foreign minister, or Putin by video link from Moscow. Zelensky is also expected to address G20 by video link.
“Putin’s war has caused devastation around the world, destroying lives and plunging the international economy into turmoil,” recently installed British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said as he flew out to Bali.
“This G20 summit will not be business as usual. We will call out Putin’s regime, and lay bare their utter contempt for the kind of international co-operation and respect for sovereignty forums like the G20 represent.”
The two-day G20 summit will start in Bali on Tuesday and host Indonesia hopes it can play a role in calming geopolitical tensions.
Speaking after the East Asia summit on Sunday, Indonesia President Joko Widodo said south-east Asian nations were determined not to become a “proxy to any powers”.
“ASEAN must become a peaceful region and anchor for global stability, consistently uphold international law and not be a proxy to any powers,” he said. “ASEAN should not let the current geopolitical dynamic turn into a new Cold War.”
The G20 is being preceded by the Business 20 summit on Bali, where speakers on Monday include Albanese and Widodo as well as billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and former British prime minister Tony Blair.
Widodo has been lobbying Musk to build a Tesla battery factory in Indonesia, which is rich in nickel reserves, in a bid to become a global hub for the electric vehicle industry.
– with AP and Reuters
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.
Copyright © 2022