By Oyintari Ben
Russia has been referred to as a “rogue state” by Rishi Sunak, who also criticized Vladimir Putin for skipping the G20 summit in Bali.
The Russian president, who is “responsible for so much carnage in Ukraine,” did not attend the summit on Monday, according to the prime minister, which indicates that he is not even making an effort to justify his conduct.
Since the invasion of the Ukraine in February, the UK Prime Minister has not met with Russian officials until the summit, when Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of the Kremlin, took Putin’s place.
During the opening plenary of the summit, Mr. Sunak will question Mr. Lavrov on Russia’s “illegal” incursion in a more forceful manner than his predecessors Liz Truss and Boris Johnson.
The G20, an organization of the world’s largest countries, will be the venue for the Prime Minister to promote a five-point economic action plan, which will include reducing reliance on Russian oil and gas.
We will not allow the actions of a rogue regime to hold our economic future hostage, Mr. Sunak said, and neither will our allies.
Also speaking about Putin, he stated: “Leaders accept responsibility. They appear. Yet one seat will be unfilled at the G20 summit this week in Indonesia.
“The man who is accountable for a great deal of the killing in Ukraine and the global economic unrest won’t be there to defend himself against his colleagues. He won’t even make an effort to defend his behavior. He will instead remain at home while the rest of us finish the task at hand.
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States are the countries that make up the “group of 20.”
Given that every country must agree to the text and that Russia is there, there are few chances of a communique being agreed upon that contains any strong rhetoric regarding the Ukraine war.
The meeting will provide one of the first looks into Mr. Sunak’s perspective on the globe as a leader, as it is unknown where the new Prime Minister stands on many geopolitical issues.
