Indonesia’s big choice on G20

Indonesia’s difficulty as host of the next G20 summit, in Bali in November, is clear. But whether the compromise Jakarta is pursuing, by inviting both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to attend, is viable remains to be seen. As Scott Morrison says, Australia, the US, Canada and other allies “are very concerned about sitting across the table from someone who has been, pretty rightly, accused of war crimes”. A White House spokeswoman said on Friday that Joe Biden opposes Mr Putin’s attendance: “There’s a lot that could happen between now and then, but we certainly haven’t seen an indication to date of Russia’s plan to participate in diplomatic talks constructively.’’ In March, Mr Biden said Russia should be removed from the forum and if that could not be done “we should, in my view, ask to have Ukraine be able to attend the meetings, as well as observe”.

Indonesia has acted on that. But, given the scale of war crimes in Ukraine by Mr Putin’s forces, there is no moral equivalence between what Russia is doing and the way Mr Zelensky is trying to save his people.

Without any of the horrors being seen in Ukraine, what was then the G8 moved swiftly in 2014 to expel Russia from membership following Mr Putin’s unlawful invasion and annexation of Crimea. G20 members should not ignore the precedent.

Indonesia has for decades been a major leader of the misnamed, previously Soviet-dominated Non-Aligned Movement. Many will sympathise with President Joko Widodo’s concern, as G20 host, to be even-handed. Ukraine is not a G20 member; Russia is. Concern for human rights did not stop the 2020 summit in Saudi Arabia amid the revulsion that followed the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But Mr Putin’s assault on Ukraine far outstrips that atrocity. He compounded his disdain for global opinion last week by giving what was described as “a middle-finger salute to the world” in deliberately bombing Kyiv while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, nominally the world’s leading peacekeeper, was there. G20 summits are vital for international discourse on economic and social issues. Mr Putin must not be allowed to derail a summit the world needs.