The decline and fall of Sergei Lavrov

First came the claims that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was admitted to hospital in Bali on arriving for the G20 summit. No, we were then told by spokeswoman Maria Zakharova – it was ‘the ultimate fake’. Then local accounts emerged, saying that he popped in ‘for a check-up’. But does any of it matter?

On the face of it, it should. Vladimir Putin, true to form, havered as to whether to attend the summit, apparently deciding less than a week beforehand not to, both for security reasons but also because he knew that he would hardly get a warm welcome. The prospect of being publicly shunned and taken to task was enough to keep him home.

With Putin not willing to leave the comfort of his bunker, the task of representing Russia fell to Lavrov. This may sound like a logical step, but it underlines Moscow’s limited expectations for the summit.