THIS Friday and Saturday, G20 finance ministers meet in Bali after their foreign minister counterparts convened last week. Tensions over Moscow’s invasion boiled over in that latter session with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov walking out of meetings at least twice, and there was none of the usual customary group pictures of the so-called ‘G20 family’ taken.

With the longevity and outcome of the Ukraine crisis unclear, this year’s G20 events have the potential to become the most important since the 2009 meeting in London during the storm of the international financial crisis. While Indonesia is one of the club’s least prominent states, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo is determined to try to stamp his mark and is engaging in extensive shuttle diplomacy, including to Moscow to see President Vladimir Putin this month.

According to Widodo, Putin will not attend this year’s leadership summit in person. However, other presidents and prime ministers will do so from China, India, Japan, Australia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, South Korea, Argentina, Mexico, the European Union (EU), and the United States. Collectively, these powers account for some 90 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP), 80 per cent of world trade, and around 66 per cent of global population.