Blinken believes Putin's participation in G20 is possible if all participants agree

He said this at a briefing during his visit to France.

Blinken was asked if he sees the possibility of Putin's participation in the summit, which was previously mentioned by French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Brazil.

“If there’s a consensus among all the members and if it’s useful, yes.  In the current situation, it’s hard to see how it could be useful and how there could be a consensus among all the members,” said the US Secretary of State.

Furthermore, in response to questions about the possibility of a handshake between Putin and US President Joe Biden, Blinken expressed that the idea was never about excluding Russia or the Kremlin leader from the G20, so he does not rule out such a possibility.

“The idea has never been to exclude Russia or Mr. Putin.  It’s the actions, it’s the policy of Russia and of Mr. Putin that triggers what happens in terms of Russia’s relations with the G20 or with the G7, with the world. So, if policy changes, we don’t rule anything out. The problem is that we don’t have any proof, for the moment, that policy is changing,” the US Secretary of State emphasized.

He also expressed hope that “sooner rather than later” the day will come when the relations between Western countries and Russia will be significantly different from what they are now.

“Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and it’s not the case because of Mr. Putin’s policies… Russia is not a pariah, and for us, it’s not so much the individuals, the personalities, that count, it’s the policy pursued by a country,” Blinken emphasized.

• The day before, French leader Emmanuel Macron named the conditions for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to receive an invitation to the G20 summit.