Is Putin being boycotted or welcomed back to international summits?

India's Prime Minister Modi is to host an online meeting of G-20 leaders. Putin will attend, Biden and Xi Jinping will not. 

Xi Jinping and Joe Biden.

XINHUA /LI XUEREN/PAP/EPA

India's Prime Minister Modi is to host an online meeting of G-20 leaders. Putin will attend, but Biden and Xi Jinping will not. 

International press are spinning this situation diversely, with Ukrainian sources referring to Biden and Xi Jinping's "boycott":

⚡️US President Joe Biden and Chairman of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping refused to participate in the virtual G20 summit with Putin, scheduled on Wednesday, November 22, Bloomberg reported, citing the Ministry of External Affairs of India.

📷: AFP pic.twitter.com/Ezct1lwJYh

— KyivPost (@KyivPost) November 22, 2023

The situation is more complex as various powers jockey for position in the shifting world order. Prime Minister Li Keqiang will take Xi's place, representing China, but this may be a tit-for-tat response to Modi's absence from a virtual meeting of developing countries’ leaders attended by Xi Jinping.

The US and India have a common interest in avoiding a strong Russia-China axis. 

Sources: Bloomberg, Kyiv News

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