Australia on Sunday said there was no consensus on locking Russian President Vladimir Putin out of the upcoming G20 Summit in Brisbane, but there was a shared view that he ought to attend to face up to the outrage over Ukraine.
“I’ve taken soundings and countries are determined to ensure that the G20 remains the premier economic forum for global issues and there is a view that President Putin should turn up and face the international condemnation for its behaviour in relation to Ukraine,” Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on ABC Radio .
“The case of the G20, Australia is the host but we don’t have the right to rescind invitations that have been sent. That would have to be a consensus view within the G20 and there isn’t that consensus.”
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In August, Ms. Bishop lobbied G20 leaders to bar Mr. Putin from the summit over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
The G20 Finance Ministers, central bankers, business leaders and civil society groups gathered in Cairns are discussing ways to achieve the bloc’s target of raising gross domestic product by at least 2 per cent over the next five years. It estimates that doing so would contribute more than 2 trillion dollars to world GDP and create millions of jobs.
The delegates were discussing strategies to simulate growth and investment, create jobs, cooperate on monetary policy, regulate taxes and develop infrastructure.
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