Russia’s G20 (Sherpa) Svetlana Lukash said Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to participate in the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023. Lukash said the final decision will be taken by the Russian President himself but she said there are chances.

“I hope that, of course, [Russia’s president] will go [to the G20 Summit]. But this, in any case, is up to him to decide. Now, when the next summit is one year ahead, I cannot give an answer to such a question. The way I see it, that there are all chances for this,” Lukash was quoted as saying by news agency TASS.

The G20 Leadership Summit will be held on September 9 and September 10 next year.

India has taken over the G20 presidency from Indonesia earlier this month.

Putin did not attend the summit which was held in Bali and his foreign minister Sergey Lavrov was in attendance with spokesperson Maria Zakharova and a small delegation.

Lukash said she was hopeful that Russia will not miss any event ahead of the G20 Summit.

India will hold more than 200 events ahead of the G20 leadership summit in New Delhi. Lukash said it is necessary for Russia to attend these events because it needs to express its stand on multiple issues.

“I hope that we will not miss a single event – be it a meeting of a working group or a seminar, or a conference. It is important for Russia to participate in any event to demonstrate its position, express its views, and see the best practices that partners from other countries have,” Lukash said, according to TASS.

India held the first G20 Sherpa meeting under its presidency in Rajasthan’s Udaipur where she spoke on digital transformation and explained how it is a key driver of growth and development. She lauded India for putting ‘women-led development’ as one of the group’s key priorities.

“Women are catalysers of positive transformations,” Lukash said.

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