G20 Summit: Russia’s Sergey Lavrov treated at Bali hospital, say reports

Nusa Dua, November 14

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was taken to the hospital because of a health concern following his arrival for the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Bali, multiple Indonesian authorities said on Monday. Russia denied that he had been hospitalised.

Russia’s top diplomat arrived on the resort island the previous evening to take part in the meeting of the world’s leading economies, which begins Tuesday.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova later denied that Lavrov had been hospitalised, calling it “the highest level of fakes”. She posted a video of Lavrov, looking healthy in a T-shirt and shorts, in which he was asked to comment on the report. “They’ve been writing about our president for 10 years that he’s fallen ill. It’s a game that is not new in politics,” Lavrov says in the video. Russia’s news agency Tass separately cited Lavrov as saying, “I’m in the hotel, reading materials for the summit tomorrow.” Lavrov is the highest-ranking Russian official at the G20 meeting, which US President Joe Biden, China’s Xi Jinping and other leaders are attending. Four Indonesian government and medical officials said Lavrov was treated at the Sanglah Hospital in the provincial capital, Denpasar. All of the officials declined to be identified as they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. Two of the people said Lavrov had been treated for a heart condition. — AP

Video posted

• Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova posted a video of Lavrov, looking healthy in a T-shirt and shorts
• “They’ve been writing about our president for 10 years that he’s fallen ill. It’s a game that is not new,” Lavrov says in the video