Putin Mulls Attending Asean Summit Anwar

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Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seriously considering attending the 47th Asean Summit.
Anwar said so far the Russian delegate had only officially confirmed the attendance of its deputy prime minister, while maintaining that Putin had expressed interest towards attending the summit during their August meetup in Beijing.
“We have sent him (Putin) an invitation. He told me in Beijing that he will seriously consider this.
“For now, he is sending the deputy prime minister, but will know by today, finally, whether he is coming.
ADS“But I do think it is likely right now... he did say he is keen to come. Let’s see, but officially for now the deputy prime minister is coming,” he told reporters at the Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) Knowledge Forum today.
From Oct 26 to 28, the 47th Asean Summit will take place in Kuala Lumpur, the biggest gathering in its history since its inception in 1976.
With the theme "Inclusion and Sustainability”, the summit gathers top leaders from 10 Asean member states including key dialogue partners such as the US, China, Japan, and India.
Ukraine official: Putin war criminal
Last month, Oleksandr Merezhko, chairperson of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Foreign Policy and Inter-parliamentary Committee, said that any invitation by a country to Putin should only come with the intention of apprehending the Russian president over a long list of war crimes.
The visiting Ukrainian lawmaker said that this also applies to Anwar’s personal invitation for Putin to attend the Asean Summit next week.
Ukraine lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko“Putin is a war criminal. Speaking in terms of international law, he is a war criminal, and we should proceed from this fact when someone is thinking about whether to invite him.
“The (inviting) country should take this into consideration,” he added.
Merezhko at the time stressed that the Russian president was responsible for the tragedy of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, the commercial aircraft shot down over eastern Ukraine amid clashes between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces.
In May, the United Nations aviation council ruled that Russia was responsible for downing the plane over Ukraine in July 2014, which killed all 283 passengers and 15 crew members. - Mkini

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