It was to be the first major international appearance by a Russian leader since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Moscow’s chief diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (72), wanted to demonstrate a stable Russia at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali. And plowing the way for his boss, wartime president Vladimir Putin (69), when the Bali summit of G20 heads of state and government takes place in November. Everything happened differently, and very quickly. Lavrov was criticized at every turn. And took flight. Left the meeting early.
It finally came to a head when Lavrov’s Western counterparts refused to take a group photo with the Russian. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (60) led the boycott, like the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported on site. Colleagues joined Blinken. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (41) later declared that because of the “cold-blooded” Russian aggression in Ukraine “there will be no official photo at this G20 meeting”. You can’t “stand smiling at the side of someone like that”.
Even before the group photo, which is always common at such meetings, there was trouble. Blinken and other Western colleagues decided to skip a reception on Thursday because Lavrov would be there. The hostess, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (59), showed understanding and respected this decision.
Dress rehearsal for Putin failed
Criticism rained down on Lavrov from all sides. As soon as he arrived at the luxury hotel Mulia in the seaside resort of Nusa Dua, the ZDF correspondent Andreas Kynast called out to the Russian Foreign Minister in English: “When do you stop the war”. In German: «When are you going to end the war.» Another German journalist called out to Lavrov: “Why don’t you stop the war?”. “Why don’t you end the war?”
Inside the plenum, things continued unabated. At the start of the meeting, hostess Retno Marsudi (59), the Indonesian Foreign Minister, called for the Ukraine war to end as quickly as possible. “It is our responsibility to end the war sooner rather than later and settle our differences at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield.”
Russian refusal to talk
Germany’s Foreign Minister Baerbock criticized that Moscow showed “not a millimeter of willingness to talk”. Baerbock accused Lavrov of refusing to talk. At that point at the latest, the first fuses began to blow in the humiliated Russian. His appearance should have been a dress rehearsal for his boss: how Putin (69) would be received at the same place in November. The answer quickly became clear.
Lavrov gave his short speech and then stomped out of the room, avoiding his critics. Speaking to journalists, Lavrov also accused the West of preventing the transition to a peaceful solution in Ukraine. If the EU and the US wanted Ukraine to win the battlefield, “then we probably have nothing to discuss with the West.”
On the same day, his boss Putin in Moscow accused the West of wanting to fight “to the last Ukrainian”. Russia’s armed forces have not yet really started the war.
«Primitive Propaganda»
There were also sharp words from Ukraine about Lavrov’s performance in Bali. Kyiv was already angry that Lavrov was even invited. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak (50) accused the Russians of “primitive propaganda”.