'Obvious' Sergey Lavrov Did Not Feel Well at G20 Summit: Ukraine Official

A Ukrainian diplomat said that Sergey Lavrov was not feeling well during the recent G20 summit in Indonesia, an observation that clashes with Moscow's denials of reports about the Russian foreign minister's health.

The comments by Ukraine's ambassador to Indonesia, Vasyl Hamianin, followed speculation about Lavrov's condition at the gathering of leaders from the world's 20 biggest economies on the island of Bali earlier this month.

Citing Indonesian officials, the Associated Press reported that Russia's top diplomat had been taken to a Bali hospital after suffering from a health problem and that he was being treated for a heart condition. Moscow has strongly denied the reports, with Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova describing them as "the height of fakery" on her Telegram channel.

In Bali, Lavrov was filmed sitting outdoors on a patio in a T-shirt and shorts in a video in which he denied the reports. He also referred to news stories about the purported ill health of Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying, "This is such a game that is not new in politics." He added, "Western journalists need to be more truthful."

But Hamianin had a different take, telling Ukrainian news outlet Liga.net that Lavrov had been hospitalized and that the video of him purportedly looking like the picture of health was filmed in a villa at a hospital for VIP patients.

Hamianin also said that during the summit the Russian delegation "behaved as quietly as mice" and that Lavrov had "ignored" a lunch held for the world leaders and did not conduct negotiations with anyone except for China.

"After the summit, Lavrov also went to the hospital and only then went home," Hamianin said. "This is information from local insiders. Perhaps they also embellished it a bit, so I won't say it with 100 percent certainty, but the fact that he felt bad was obvious," he said.

Lavrov left Bali a day ahead of the summit's scheduled conclusion, apparently hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the leaders virtually. He repeatedly referred to them as the G19 and called for the war in his country to end "justly."

It is not clear if Lavrov's departure, which was confirmed by Indonesia, was connected to Zelensky's speech.

Hamianin told Liga.net that the reasons for Lavrov's early departure could have been fears he would be arrested as a war criminal, a lack of scheduled meetings, Russian missile attacks or health problems.

Bali Governor I Wayan Koster told Reuters that Lavrov had briefly visited his province's Sanglah Hospital and said the minister was "in good health and after the checkup he immediately left."

Lavrov was Russia's highest-ranking official at the summit. There was speculation that Putin had refrained from attending to avoid awkward encounters with Western leaders, who have strongly opposed his invasion of Ukraine.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.