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Australia PM: Putin Going to G20 'a Step too Far'

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants Russia's Vladimir Putin excluded from the G20 summit later this year Steven SAPHORE AFP/File
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants Russia's Vladimir Putin excluded from the G20 summit later this year Steven SAPHORE AFP/File
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Australia PM: Putin Going to G20 'a Step too Far'

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants Russia's Vladimir Putin excluded from the G20 summit later this year Steven SAPHORE AFP/File
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants Russia's Vladimir Putin excluded from the G20 summit later this year Steven SAPHORE AFP/File

Allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to sit with other world leaders at this year's G20 summit would be "a step too far", Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday.

Putin has already been invited to the G20 heads of state summit in November by this year's host Jakarta, and he intends to be there, Russia's ambassador to Indonesia said this week.

But Morrison objected, citing Russia's war in neighboring Ukraine, AFP said.

"I think we need to have people in the room that aren't invading other countries," he said.

The prime minister said he had been in "direct contact" with Indonesian President Joko Widodo about Putin's attendance at the Group of 20, which brings together the world's top economies, including the United States, China, Japan and some European nations.

"Russia has invaded Ukraine. This is a violent and aggressive act that shatters the international rule of law," Morrison told a news conference in Melbourne.

"And the idea of sitting around a table with Vladimir Putin... for me, is a step too far."

China this week described Russia as an "important member" of the G20 and said no member had the right to expel another country, after Washington raised the prospect of excluding Moscow.

Morrison noted that Australia and the Netherlands this month have also launched fresh legal proceedings against Russia over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing everyone on board.

International investigators say it was struck by a surface-to-air missile originally brought from a Russian military base.

"So we know Vladimir Putin’s form when it comes to taking the lives of innocent civilians," Morrison said.

"I am not shocked by their barbarity. I am not shocked by their arrogance in what they are seeking to impose on Ukraine. And that’s why Australia has been one of the strongest in taking action in relation to Russia."

Australia announced Sunday a ban on all exports of alumina and bauxite to Russia while pledging more weapons and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

The government says Australia has levelled 476 sanctions against Russian individuals and institutions since the invasion began on February 24.

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Pezeshkian: Iran is Open for Dialogue with Trump, Never Plotted to Kill him

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an NBC News interview on Tuesday
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an NBC News interview on Tuesday
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Pezeshkian: Iran is Open for Dialogue with Trump, Never Plotted to Kill him

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an NBC News interview on Tuesday
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an NBC News interview on Tuesday

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned the US against the risk of a war against Iran, reaffirming that Tehran was not seeking to curb its nuclear program or acquire weapons of mass destruction.

In an NBC News interview on Tuesday, Pezeshkian said his country in principle is open to dialogue with the second administration of Republican US President-elect Donald Trump, adding that Iran never plotted to kill him.

Officials in Tehran fear that Trump will revive his maximum pressure strategy that sought to wreck Iran's economy to force the country to negotiate a deal on its nuclear program, ballistic missile program and regional activities.

Questions have been raised about Trump’s approach to Tehran, with both sides sending contradictory signals, complicating any prospects for meaningful dialogue.

Trump's position on nuclear talks held during the term of Biden remains unclear. The President-elect has pledged a more assertive approach and a closer alliance with Israel, which opposes the deal.

Pezeshkian’s interview came less than a week before Trump’s inauguration as the 47th American president.

“I hope that (President-elect Donald) Trump will lead to regional and world peace and will not, on the contrary, contribute to bloodshed or war,” he said.

The interview also comes as Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart will sign a 25-year strategic partnership agreement during the latter's visit to Russia on Jan. 17.

Indirect Talks

Pezeshkian said Iran in principle is open to dialogue with the second Trump administration. But he said that the United States has not lived up to its commitments in the past and that it has sought to topple the Iranian government.

“The problem we have is not in dialogue,” Pezeshkian said. “It’s in the commitments that arise from talk and dialogue that we’ll have to commit to.”

Mehdi Fazaeli, a senior figure in the office of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, described negotiating with the United States as “a betrayal of the entire world.”

In an article published in the Hamshahri newspaper, Fazaeli said negotiating with the United States “will greatly contribute to the revival of American dominance.”

Last week, the Supreme Leader firmly rejected direct talks with Washington and cautioned Iranian officials against pursuing better relations. “Our officials mustn't succumb to demands of US and Zionists who desire Iran's ruin,” he said.

Israeli Plot

In November, the US Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps to assassinate the US president-elect. Law enforcement thwarted the alleged plan before any attack was carried out.

Trump also said last year during the US election campaign that Iran may have been behind attempts to kill him.

“None whatsoever,” Pezeshkian said on NBC News when asked if there was an Iranian plan to kill Trump. “We have never attempted this to begin with and we never will.”

He added: “This is another one of those schemes that Israel and other countries are designing to promote Iranophobia.”

Nuclear Threshold

Over the past few years, Iran has significantly advanced its nuclear capabilities and is now considered to be at the threshold of developing nuclear weapons.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog, Iran has increased its manufacturing of enriched uranium such that it is the only non-nuclear weapons state to possess uranium enriched to 60 percent.

Iran says it has the right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and has consistently denied any ambition of developing weapons capability.

Pezeshkian defended his country’s policy, saying: “Everything we have done so far has been peaceful. We are not seeking to create a nuclear weapon. But they are accusing us of trying to make an atomic bomb.”

When asked about possible Israeli military strikes, with US approval, against his country's nuclear sites, the President said through a translator: “You see, naturally enough, we will react to any action. We do not fear war, but we do not seek it.”