Rishi Sunak has insisted Russia is becoming a “pariah state” as he prepares to “unequivocally condemn” Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine.
The Prime Minister is in Bali with fellow leaders of the world’s major economies, and plans to use the first G20 summit session today to confront Russia’s representative Sergei Lavrov.
President Putin is sending his foreign minister in his place, as he continues to suffer military setbacks and unanimous condemnation from Western powers.
Mr Sunak said: “It’s telling that Putin is not there.
“Russia is becoming a pariah state and he’s not there to take responsibility for what he’s doing.”
Asked how he will engage with Mr Lavrov at the summit, the Prime Minister said: “I’m going to take the opportunity to unequivocally condemn the Russian state and Putin for their abhorrent and illegal war.
“I will do that in the hall, I will do that if I see him elsewhere and that’s the right thing to do.”
The G20 leaders’ summit is not only the first since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion in February, but the first in the group’s history held in the shadow of a major European war instigated by one of its members.
The gathering looks likely to be dominated by the fallout from the conflict, which has caused and exacerbated global economic woes, driving up food and energy prices worldwide.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to address the event virtually.
Asked if he would encourage Kyiv to enter peace talks, Mr Sunak said that is a question for the Ukrainians.
“It’s a bit unfair to say to the Ukrainians‘look you should be negotiating’ when your country and your civilian infrastructure is being relentlessly bombed, as it is currently.
“So our job is to continue to help the Ukrainians defend themselves, and put themselves in the strongest possible position, at a time of their choosing, to bring a negotiated settlement.
“But nothing that Russia is doing at the moment would suggest that they are committed or interested in that approach right now.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel