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Indonesian envoy believes Putin-Zelensky meeting at G20 summit could help ‘break the ice’

According to Jose Tavares, the sides have not yet confirmed their participation

Indonesian Envoy to Russia Jose Tavares Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

Indonesian Envoy to Russia Jose Tavares

© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. Indonesia believes that a face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky at the G20 summit would help "break the ice" in relations between the two countries, Indonesian envoy to Russia Jose Tavares said in an interview with TASS.

According to the diplomat, Indonesia hoped that Putin and Zelensky would attend the summit in person rather than virtually. "We hope that they [Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky] will participate personally, not online or virtually, otherwise it will be difficult. It’s always an advantage to meet in person. Now, we will facilitate, the platform is avaliable, and if there is a political will from both sides to meet, even though there is no substantive achievement to expect, but if only meeting [took place that could help] break the ice right now, just a meeting, just in one room, shake hands, even without smile, that’s fine, but it’s already a big achievement," the envoy said.

According to Tavares, the sides have not yet confirmed their participation. "But we’ve heard from some interviews that President Zelensky already mentioned in the past that he was not going to attend in person, but maybe just through online presentation, so we’ll see. We still have a few weeks," he added.

On October 14, Putin said that the issue of his trip to the G20 summit in Indonesia has not yet been finalized, but the Russian side will participate in this forum. It is to be held on the Indonesian island of Bali on November 15-16.

Tags

Vladimir Putin Indonesia G20 Vladimir Zelensky

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