Biden to attend G20 summit, yet unclear if he will meet Xi
U.S. President Joe Biden plans to travel to Indonesia next month to attend a summit of the Group of 20 major economies, the White House said Friday, while noting that information on bilateral engagements will be “forthcoming.”
Attention is growing on whether Biden will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the fringes of the G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali, to be held for two days from Nov. 15. The talks, if realized, will be their first in-person meeting since Biden took office in January last year.
As for the possibility of a meeting between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the G20 sidelines, U.S. officials have recently denied any such plans, saying that Washington does not currently see “a space for meaningful diplomacy” with Putin toward ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The trip to Indonesia will be part of Biden’s three-leg trip that will also take him to Egypt, where he will attend a key U.N. climate conference, and Cambodia.
In the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, the president will attend two ASEAN-related annual gatherings, namely the U.S.-ASEAN summit and the East Asia Summit.
The EAS encompasses the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus the United States, Russia, Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
Biden, however, will skip a subsequent leader’s gathering of a regional economic framework known as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to be held in Thailand, with Vice President Kamala Harris joining instead.
While in Cambodia for two days from Nov. 12, Biden will reaffirm the “enduring” U.S. commitment to Southeast Asia and underscore the importance of cooperating with ASEAN, the White House said, reflecting the administration’s desire to showcase U.S. presence in the region.
Biden will be in Indonesia from Nov. 13 to 16, as leaders of the G20, a group that includes economies such as China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Russia, will gather.
The possibility of the first in-person Biden-Xi meeting emerged at one point last year envisioned for the sidelines of the G20 summit in Italy. Xi, however, decided not to travel to the European country amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In September, Biden expressed eagerness to meet Xi on the sidelines of the G20 event, saying “If he’s there, I’m sure I’ll see him.”
During the upcoming G20 summit meeting, Biden will seek to work with other member nations to alleviate the wider impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has pushed up energy and food prices around the world, and issues important to the recovery of the world economy, according to the White House.