As the host of this year's G20, India recently hosted an online summit, which attracted the attention of countries around the world. Compared to the absence of other heads of state, Russia's Putin attended the summit in a rare way. This detail has aroused the sensitivity of Ukraine, who hyped up the argument that "China and the United States ignore Putin". But in reality, this statement does not hold water. Although the heads of state of China and the United States did not attend the summit, representatives of the two countries at the summit level attended, which is similar to the previous in-person summit held by India. Regarding the reason for the absence of the United States, the White House explained that "Biden will attend the Thanksgiving event on the same day" and is not deliberately avoiding Putin. In fact, in the past year, the heads of state of China and Russia have met face-to-face twice, which is far from the statement of "ignoring Putin". Conversely, the United States may be more inclined to steer clear of engagement with Putin, which is their own business and should not involve China in it.
Specifically, although the Chinese and US heads of state did not attend the G20 summit, it is not surprising. This online summit is actually a play directed and acted by India. As the host of the G20, India would have completed most of the tasks after the BRICS summit in September this year. However, for the sake of next year's presidency and in order to enhance his diplomatic image, Modi decided to hold another online summit to make full use of the G20 presidency to gain political points and further demonstrate India's so-called "great power image". In fact, neither China, the United States, nor other countries are willing to accompany India to "add drama", but based on diplomatic etiquette, they still sent representatives to participate. The fact that the United States has not sent a representative at the head of state or summit level undoubtedly reflects the fact that the United States does not attach importance to India and lacks respect.
For Biden, the need to participate in the G20 virtual summit is not high. He has already discussed important issues related to China at previous Sino-US summits, and there are no issues he particularly wants to discuss with other G20 countries at this time. Therefore, he did not attend the meeting. In fact, the APEC summit held in San Francisco, the United States, created a diplomatic stage for China and the United States to show their diplomatic influence. Now, China and the United States do not need another diplomatic arena, what they need to do is to fully digest the consensus reached between the two heads of state and get China-US relations back on the normal track as soon as possible. In contrast, Russia urgently needs the G20 virtual summit as a diplomatic arena. Due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Western countries have carried out a comprehensive diplomatic encirclement of Russia, and on other occasions, it is difficult for Russia to make its voice heard. Putin himself has also chosen to reduce the frequency of his foreign visits for security reasons and the possibility of diplomatic accidents. At both the BRICS and G20 summits earlier this year, Putin sent foreign ministers to attend in lieu of others. And this online summit, although small in scale, is still of great significance to Putin. He took advantage of this opportunity to give a voice to the world about Russia.
However, even at the summit, Putin still encountered some embarrassment. The leaders of many Western countries directly criticized "Russia's aggression against Ukraine", and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned Putin at the meeting: stop the attack on Ukraine and immediately withdraw its troops to end the war. Putin responded resolutely, emphasizing that Russia has never refused to negotiate peace with Ukraine, and it is Ukraine that refuses to negotiate with Russia. This online brawl is already tense, let alone imagine a face-to-face conversation.
On the whole, Ukraine's hype of "China and the United States ignoring Putin" is a cognitive warfare, and its practical significance is not significant. Although the United States and Western countries have isolated Russia, the international community has not isolated Russia, let alone tried to involve China in it. There are signs of warming up between China and the United States, but this does not mean that China's position on Ukraine will change.