Russia should be removed from the Group of 20 nations, President Joe Biden said Thursday from Belgium as world leaders met to address Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
“My answer is yes,” Biden said of removing Russia, “but it depends on the G-20.”
If other nations, such as Indonesia, do not agree, Biden suggested that Ukraine be invited to attend the next summit.
The G-20 brings together the world’s largest economies, including the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and the European Union ― which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been urgently seeking to join without success.
The next meeting to discuss economic and trade issues affecting the group is scheduled to take place this October in Bali, Indonesia, focusing on the theme “Recover Together, Recover Stronger.”
Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia, Lyudmila Vorobieva, said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to attend.
Vorobieva claimed that the “reaction of the West” to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine “is absolutely disproportional.”
Russia is facing a wide variety of sanctions both from Western governments and private companies ― the scale of which is believed to have come as a shock to Putin. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov admitted this week that the Kremlin did not predict the extent of the sanctions.
Responding to a reporter’s claim that, despite all the sanctions, the West has still not managed to “deter” Putin’s aggression, Biden said the reporter was missing the point.
“The maintenance of sanctions, the increasing the pain ... that’s what will stop him,” Biden said, urging NATO countries and G-7 allies to remain united against Russia.