Minute plan: Everything for Biden to miss Putin

Russia's invasion of Ukraine American panic before the summit: Avoid Putin at all costs 

 

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Anna Sjogren 

 

Published: Less than 3 hours ago 

 

Updated: Less than 3 hours ago 

 

NEWS 

 

The relationship between Russia and the United States has hit rock bottom after the invasion of Ukraine. 

 

At the G20 summit in Bali in November, the two presidents can meet. 

 

Now the White House is putting together a meticulous plan to make sure that doesn't happen. 

 

In mid-November, world leaders gather in Bali for the G20 summit. The meeting is attended by presidents and prime ministers of some of the world's largest economies, among them the United States and Russia. 

 

But that makes for a tense atmosphere. Both Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin are expected to attend the meeting. 

 

This year's meeting takes place when the relationship between the two superpowers has reached Cold War levels. No official meeting between the two countries has been scheduled, and according to American media, the White House also wants to avoid any kind of meeting between the presidents at all costs. 

 

Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden shook hands when they last met in June 2021. Now the White House is trying to create a plan for how the two should not meet. Photo: AP 

 

Therefore, intensive work is now underway to ensure that Biden does not attend the same meetings as Putin, gets stuck in the same picture as him and does not happen to run into him in a corridor. 

 

But the presidents will likely stay in the same room for at least one major meeting on November 15 and 16. 

 

Joe Biden has said he has no plans whatsoever to meet with Vladimir Putin, a man he called both a murderer and a war criminal after the invasion of Ukraine. 

 

- I have no intentions of a meeting with him, but if he came to me during the G20 and said he wants to talk about releasing Griner (an American basketball player imprisoned in Russia ed. note), I would meet with him but it would depend, he said in an interview with CNN last week. 

 

American basketball player Brittney Griner in the courtroom in Khimki outside Moscow in August 2022. Photo: AP 

 

What kind of welcome the Russian president will receive at the meeting is unclear. The G20 countries include the UK, Germany, France, Canada, Mexico, China, Turkey, South Korea and Brazil, among others. The EU is also included.

 

And many believe that most Western leaders will do as Biden did and avoid Putin. This summer, several foreign ministers refused to pose for a traditional "family photo" together with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, something that is said to have been the initiative of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. 

 

Then Lavrov also stormed out of a meeting after he was pressed about the war in Ukraine. Ahead of the upcoming meeting in Bali, however, he has said that Russia is open to talks with the US - if the US takes the initiative. 

 

 

 

The last conversation between Biden, on screen, and Putin, right, was in December 2021. Photo: AP 

 

Facts 

 

The G20 countries 

 

The G20 is a group consisting of 19 countries and the EU. These meet at regular intervals and discuss financial, but also other issues. The G20 includes: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, EU, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, China, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, South Korea, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States.