The United States and other Western countries are considering excluding Russia from the G20, Reuters reports citing sources.
According to the news agency, Poland invited US officials to replace Russia in the group and received a “positive response.”
The G20 is a group of the world’s largest economies that aims to coordinate action on issues affecting the global economy, including climate change and global development.
Such pressure would complement the existing economic sanctions against Russia by the West. But other key G20 countries, including China, India and Saudi Arabia, are likely to veto it, analysts say.
That’s why some are predicting that Western G7 allies might instead boycott this year’s G20 meetings – something Indonesia, the current G20 chairman, has reportedly been warned about, BGNES reports.
Russia was part of the G7, which expanded into the G8 in 2000 to accommodate Moscow in more friendly times. But Russia was expelled after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.