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European Commission’s head opposed to boycotting G20 summit if Putin attends

Ursula von der Leyen expressed concern that this could paralyze the work of the entire G20

BERLIN, June 27. /TASS/. The European Commission’s Ursula von der Leyen said in an interview with the German TV channel ZDF on Sunday that she was against a boycott of the G20 summit scheduled for this fall if Russian President Vladimir Putin attends it.

"We have to think very carefully about whether we paralyze the entire G20, so I don’t support it," the president of the European Commission said on the sidelines of a G7 summit in Elmau, Bavaria. "In my opinion, the G20 is too important, including for developing countries," she added.

"I think it’s better to tell Putin what we think of him" von der Leyen said. "One thing is clear: there will be no `business as usual,’" she concluded.

The G20 heads of state and government summit will take place on November 15-16 in Bali.

On February 24, Putin launched a special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request from the leaders of the two Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukraine, but the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country. The West responded with sweeping sanctions against Russia, including personal restrictions. Also, Western countries have been ramping up arms supplies to Kiev worth billions of dollars.

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