Russia heads to Bali for G20 summit

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Russia heads to Bali for G20 summit

Sergei Lavrov, a Russian foreign minister, has flown into Indonesia's resort island of Bali for a meeting of G 20 foreign ministers, which is set to be overshadowed by tensions in Ukraine.

Foreign diplomats descended on the tropical island for the G 20 gathering, which takes place on Friday in Bali's Nusa Dua area.

Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said Russia should not be allowed to use the G 20 meeting as a platform for its war in Ukraine.

It is in the interest of everyone to make sure that international law is respected and adhered to. Baerbock said that is the common denominator.

The summit will feature the first face-to-face meeting between President Vladimir Putin's long-serving foreign minister Lavrov and some of Russia's biggest critics since the invasion of Ukraine.

Lavrov had arrived in Bali and planned to meet some G 20 counterparts on the sidelines of the summit, but ministers including Baerbock and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken have ruled out meeting Lavrov, according to Russian news agency Tass.

The Group of 20 includes western countries that have accused Moscow of war crimes in Ukraine and rolled out sanctions, but also countries like China, Indonesia, India and South Africa that have been more muted in their response.

Some officials from Europe and the United States stressed that the Bali summit would not be business as usual with a spokesman for the German foreign minister saying G 7 countries would coordinate their response to Lavrov in Bali.

The two-day meeting is about energy and food security, with Russia accused of stoking a global food crisis and worsening inflation by blocking shipments of Ukrainian grain. Russia is ready to facilitate unhindered exports of grain.