Russian President Vladimir Putin will not go to the G20 summit in Bali next week, the Russian embassy told AFP on Thursday, ending several months of uncertainty about the Kremlin leader’s intentions.

"I can confirm that (Foreign Minister) Sergei Lavrov will lead the Russian delegation to the G20. President Putin’s programme is still being developed, it could take place virtually,' said Yulia Tomskaya, head of protocol at the Russian embassy in Indonesia.

The announcement comes after several months of uncertainty about the Russian President’s visit to the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit, organized by Indonesia on 15 and 16 November.

Another source close to the organization of the summit in Jakarta told AFP that the participation of the Russian president was "very unlikely" and that he should be replaced by his foreign minister.

Sergei Lavrov had prematurely left a meeting of G20 heads of diplomacy in July in Bali after being criticized by several counterparts for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Indonesia has been under strong pressure from the West to exclude Russia from the summit in response to the war in Ukraine.

But the South-East Asian country, which favours diplomacy independent of the major blocs, resisted arguing that the host country of the summit should remain neutral.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in August that Vladimir Putin had accepted his invitation.

- Risks of isolation from Russia -

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country is not a member of the G20, was also invited by Indonesia, and could speak virtually.

The Ukrainian leader warned last week that he would not attend the summit if his Russian counterpart were present.

US President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly called the Russian president a "war criminal," said he had no intention of meeting with him at the G20.

But French President Emmanuel Macron has long continued to talk to his Russian counterpart and warned about the risks of Russia’s isolation.

Moscow said it was forced to launch an offensive in Ukraine in February to "denazify" the country and denounces the sanctions against it accusing them of being at the origin of the global food and energy crises, which Westerners firmly deny.

Russian forces suffered a major setback on Wednesday with the withdrawal of Kherson, the regional capital of southern Ukraine, the target of a counter-offensive by the Kiev army.

The G20 summit in Bali will be the largest gathering of leaders from the group of major global economies since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indonesia has confirmed the presence of 17 leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Joe Biden.

This meeting takes place in the context of multiple crises, with in addition to the war in Ukraine, concerns for the global economy caused by persistent inflation and the impacts of climate change.

The ministerial meetings prior to the November summit concluded without a joint communiqué due to disputes over the war in Ukraine.