Rishi Sunak has branded Russia a “pariah state” as he prepares to condemn Vladimir Putin ’s invasion of Ukraine at a gathering of world leaders.
The Prime Minister pledged to confront Moscow’s foreign minister as they meet face-to-face at the G20 summit in Indonesia.
Putin has chosen not to attend the event and will send his right hand man Sergei Lavrov instead.
The gathering on the island of Bali will be the first time a British PM has met a representative of the Russian government since it invaded Ukraine.
Mr Sunak has vowed to “take the opportunity to unequivocally condemn the Russian state and Putin for their abhorrent and illegal war” during the two-day meeting.
He told reporters: “It's telling that Putin is not there. Russia is becoming a pariah state and he's not there to take responsibility for what he's doing.
“But I'm going to use the opportunity to put on the record my condemnation of what they're doing.
“I will do that in the hall, I will do that if I see him (Lavrov) elsewhere and that's the right thing to do.”
The PM will urge fellow leaders to maintain support for Volodymyr Zelensky, as he insists the West must be prepared to back Ukraine “for the long haul”.
“It’s right that we’re standing up to aggression,” he said.
“That’s the right thing for us to do that’s what I think the British people also believe and we’re working with all our allies to do that.”
Mr Sunak played down the likelihood of a peace deal being struck between Moscow and Kyiv soon.
“The Russians are still continuing with very aggressive military action and its a bit unfair to say to the Ukrainians, look you should be negotiating when your country and your civilian infrastructure is being relentlessly bombed, as it is currently,” he said.
“So our job is to continue to help the Ukrainians defend themselves and put themselves in the strongest possible position as a time of their choosing, to bring a negotiated settlement.
“But nothing that Russia is doing at the moment suggests that they are committed or interested in that approach right now.”
At the meeting, Mr Sunak will also call on Moscow to allow grain shipments out of Ukraine to continue as it threatens to stop them from this Saturday.
The G20 is made up of 19 nations and the EU. The member countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US.
Mr Sunak is expected to hold one-on-one talks with several of the leaders including Joe Biden, who he will meet for the first time.
