Western media outlets have been swarming in to report on Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov’s alleged health problems on Monday, claiming that he was taken into hospital upon arrival in Bali. As these false reports started circulating, Lavrov almost instantly appeared in a video from his Bali hotel talking to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Lavrov said that he had just finished speaking on the phone with his Indonesian counterpart about the summit’s agenda.
The fake news on Lavrov’s health broke several days after western leaders promised to boycott the traditional G20 family photo session, refusing to pose alongside Moscow’s top diplomat because of Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Calls for Russia to be banned from G20 or snubbed were made by the US, UK and EU leadership before other G20 events earlier this year. Russia’s top diplomat commented on the fact that the issue of his health was brought up by western media immediately before the leaders' Bali meeting, saying that President Putin’s health has also been the subject of media speculations "for about ten years", and that "this political game is not new".
Despite pressure from the US, UK and other G7 members within the G20, Indonesia, which hosted the organization’s events for the first time, has chosen an independent approach and refused to disinvite Russia’s top officials.
Jakarta put a lot of effort into organizing ministerial meetings and preparing for the main summit. A total of 180 pre-events have been held across the country, focusing on the economy, finance, healthcare and other issues.
The agenda revolves around three main goals of the Indonesian presidency: strengthening of the global healthcare architecture, digital transformation and energy transition.
According to John Kirton, co-director and founder of the G20 Research Group, Indonesia is "well on track to complete its presidency goals".
Kirton told Sputnik that on the first goal, which is strengthening the global healthcare architecture, there was a significant development as health and finance ministers formally agreed on Sunday to create a new Pandemic Fund to prevent and control future deadly outbreaks like COVID-19.
"On the other two priorities of the digital transformation and the renewable energy transition, it is still too soon to tell.” – said Kirton – “But the leaders’ personal representatives are working hard to produce a single, lengthy summit communique to which all leaders agree".
Even though the "green transition goal" is probably the hardest for Indonesia to achieve on a large scale, it looks like Jakarta has done much to demonstrate how serious it is about renewable energy. The majority of the G20 motorcade and police escort cars at the Bali summit were electric vehicles made in Asia.
Besides elaborating on Indonesia's performance, the Toronto-based G20 Research Group presented a report during a press briefing Monday, which measures the compliance of other member states with the declared goals. According to the researchers, compliance with 21 commitments made at the Rome summit in 2021 sits around 73%, which is considered average, but 13% lower than compliance with the previous 2020 Riyadh Summit.
Unlike Italy or Saudi Arabia, Indonesia had to adapt to serious changes in global geopolitics and economy, with the Ukrainian issue becoming a serious challenge for the organizers. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has looked to mediate the conflict, speaking with top officials from Moscow, Washington, and Kiev. Despite Jakarta's attempts not resulting in a major breakthrough in that area so far, and the West still not reacting to Russia's openness for contacts on the Ukrainian issue, Widodo’s initiatives have certainly boosted Indonesia’s reputation as an emerging global geopolitical player.
The Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental organization consisting of 19 member states and the EU. It was formed in 1999 to work on global financial, economic and climate change issues. Russia hosted the G20 summit in St. Petersburg in 2013. The organization does not have a centralized secretariat and headquarters. The continuity of its functioning is assured by the Troika mechanism through trilateral communication of the previous G20 host, the current presiding nation, and the future host. In 2022, the Troika consisted of Italy, Indonesia, and India, which will be at the helm of the organization next year.