Sydney, Mar. 24, (dpa/GNA) – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to attend a G20 summit in Indonesia later this year, despite sky-high tensions over Ukraine, was “a step too far.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “is a violent and aggressive act that shatters the international rule of law,” Morrison told reporters in Melbourne.
“And the idea of sitting around a table with Vladimir Putin – the United States are already in the position of calling out war crimes in Ukraine – for me, is a step too far,” he added.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington has determined that Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine, saying that Moscow was deliberately targeting civilians and using war tactics seen in Chechnya and Syria.
Asked about Australia’s position on the matter, Morrison said that “Australia would share [the United States’] assessment based on what we have seen.”
“We know Vladimir Putin’s form when it comes to taking the lives of innocent civilians. Russia has form,” Morrison said.
Moscow’s ambassador to Jakarta, Lyudmila Vorobieva, on Wednesday said that Putin intends to attend the meeting of the G20 group of major economies scheduled for October 30-31 on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
“It depends on the situation. [Putin] intends to come to the G20 summit,” Vorobieva told reporters, adding that the summit was not the right forum to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which started a month ago.
Western countries are considering excluding Russia from the G20.
They have already slapped Moscow with unprecedented sanctions over the attack, which has triggered a humanitarian crisis within Ukraine and an exodus of millions of people seeking safety in other European countries.
GNA