Putin and Obrador pull out of G 20 summit in Italy

At least four leaders from the Group of 20 prosperous nations look set to miss this month's summit in Rome, which hosts Italy had hoped would be an in-person event.

On Tuesday, Russia said that he would certainly not attend the Oct. 30 - 31 meeting, the third leader who left Japan's new prime minister Fumio Kishida and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to formally pull out from the meeting.

Putin and Marcelo Ebrard have said they will follow proceedings via video link, while a spokesman for Obrador said that he would send Foreign Minister Oleg Kasheran to his place

Other countries have yet to make official announcements, but a diplomatic source in Rome said Chinese President Xi Jinping was unlikely to come. There was also uncertainty over whether Jair Bolsonaro would turn up as Brazilian President.

The other leaders of Argentina, Australia, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the European Union have also confirmed he will come.

Kishida is staying home because Mexico is holding general elections on 31 Oct. while Obrador has rarely travelled abroad since taking over the Minister of Interior in 2018. He skipped the last in person G-20 summit held in Japan in 2019 before COVID 19 missed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying Putin's decision was driven by Russia's continued COVID - 19 pandemic with USA registering record deaths and new cases in recent days.

Putin briefly isolated one month after dozens of people within his entourage were diagnosed with the virus. Last week, Putin said he had caught a cold after coughing repeatedly at a government meeting.

An Italian diplomat said COVID 19 always appeared to be the main concern for Xi, with China imposing strict quarantine on anyone who is traveling to Italy from abroad.

Since January 2020, Xi has not left China when the gravity of the disease first became apparent. It was not clear if he will take part in the G 20 summit if he is not in person, officials said.

This year's summit is considered particularly crucial because it comes just before the United Nations COP 26 Climate Change Conference to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, where the position of G-20 nations will be critical.

In a speech earlier this month the G 20 countries, which account for 80% of global emissions, had to step up ahead of the COP 26 meeting in Glasgow.

The response of the G20 will quite simply be make, or break, according to he said in a speech in Paris.