Did Lavrov stay in a room when Ukrainian President Zelenskyy addressed the G20 Summit?

The Russia-Ukraine war has been one of the major topics of discussion among the Group of 20 leaders in the recent G20 summit which is being held in Bali, Indonesia. On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a passionate yet direct speech, presenting the leaders with 10 proposals for the restoration of peace in Ukraine. While the whole ordeal went on, what became the matter of discussion was whether the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was present during the address or not. 

On Tuesday, while the Ukrainian President was giving his G20 address attacking the Russian bloc, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stayed in the room during the virtual address of Zelenskyy, Bangkok Post reported. Lavrov also witnessed Zelenkyy snubbing Russia after the Ukrainian President called the group G19 instead of G20. 

Sharing “ten proposals of Ukraine”, with the gathering, Zelenskyy told G20 that “now is the time when the Russian destructive war must and can be stopped.” Zelenskyy started his speech by talking about Russia’s recent withdrawal from Kherson, “the only regional centre that Russia managed to occupy after February 24.” Zelenskyy then went on to announce that “Kherson is liberated,” adding, “To liberate our entire land from the Russists, we still will have to fight for a while longer…To fight!”

Presenting his 10 proposals, Zelenskyy claimed that he intends to present Ukraine's “vision of the path to peace.” Zelenskyy asserted that he wanted the aggressive Ukraine-Russia war to end “justly” and based on the UN charter and international law. Making it clear that Ukraine will not conclude with any compromise with its “conscience, sovereignty, territory and independence,” He added, “I am convinced now is the time when the Russian destructive war must and can be stopped.”

Lavrov addresses G20

Lavrov, who was attending the event after it was announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending the summit, addressed the gathering after Zelenskyy’s address. According to the Bangkok Post, during his address, Lavrov repeated Putin’s justification of the February invasion. He claimed that Russia was “fighting neo-Nazis in Ukraine.”

Despite the reports that many nations were planning to shun the Russian delegates, Bangkok Post reported that the room was full during Lavrov’s address and no one staged a walkout. Moscow then went on to refuse to call its action an invasion and used the term “special military operations” instead.