Indonesia ready to welcome G20 leaders at Bali summit next week

Jakarta: Indonesia is ready to welcome world leaders arriving for next week’s summit of the Group of 20 major economies, President Joko Widodo announced on Tuesday.

The world’s largest Muslim-majority country holds the rotating G20 presidency this year, with the upcoming meeting expected to weather tensions over current global challenges, including food and energy insecurity caused by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Widodo was on an inspection visit to Bali ahead of the summit on Nov. 15 to 16.

“To the smallest aspects possible we have inspected everything, and I want to announce that we are ready to welcome our G20 guests,” he said in a Presidential Secretariat statement.

The president added that 17 heads of state had confirmed their attendance for the summit, including US President Joe Biden and



Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Indonesia has also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has said he would not take part in the summit if Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia which is a G20 member, attended.

Widodo said he had been in touch with both Zelensky and Putin.

“They said they will attend if the situation allows,” he told reporters.

As G20 chair, Widodo has come under pressure to exclude Russia from the Bali summit.

The Indonesian leader has called for a peaceful resolution to the war, though largely maintained a neutral position.

In June, Widodo became the first Asian leader to meet both Zelensky and Putin, as he sought to help forge peace and ease a global food crisis triggered by the conflict in Europe.