Last year, President Vladimir Putin left the G20 summit in Brisbane early amid a tense atmosphere and strained relations with the West over Russia's involvement in Ukraine.
One year later, will he be similarly isolated by international leaders this weekend in the Turkish resort of Belek?
Lorna Shaddick is in Moscow, and takes a look now at what the Kremlin is hoping to get out of this G20 summit.
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Script:
I need to get back to work - that was the excuse President Vladimir Putin gave when he left last year’s G20 summit early.
He’d endured hours of talks with five different Western leaders, all urging him to drop his support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
It wasn’t, says Moscow political analyst Maria Lipman, a position Mr. Putin relished:
SOT - Super: Maria Lipman, political analyst, affiliated with George Washington University
Let’s not forget that Russia has been expelled from the G8, and Russia has always said that the G20 is more important, because that old format is obsolete, there are more countries that are important to solving the world’s problems. So finding himself isolated at G20 I’m sure was not something to Putin’s liking.
Fast forward a year, though, and it was the Russian president’s foreign minister at the centre of things during talks in Vienna on resolving the Syria crisis….and earlier in the year, on finding a deal with Iran over its nuclear programme. Moscow’s hosted the UN Syria envoy, and even talked about hosting discussions between Syria’s government and opposition. Maria Lipman again.
SOT - Super: Maria Lipman, political analyst, affiliated with George Washington University
Especially now that Russia’s under sanctions, there’s a lot of talk about Russia being isolated - he wants to prove to the world, to convey this message, I'm not isolated and what's more, I am a very important player on the world scene. And when it comes to the most crucial crisis that humankind is facing now, the Islamic State, I am here as a vital participant - if not a solution, to at least finding a solution.
But Russia wants to position itself as the country dealing with Islamic state in a nation which fundamentally disagrees with its airborne attempts to do so - Turkey. It’s hosting the G20, but recently summoned the Russian ambassador over Moscow’s jets violating its airspace.
But Vladimir Putin called President Erdogan to congratulate him on the AKP’s recent victory, and some, like Alexei Mukhin at the Moscow Centre for Political Information, say Ankara and Moscow have more to gain by working together - including on a proposed pipeline under the Black Sea to transport Russian gas to Turkey.
SOT - Super: Alexei Mukhin, Director, Moscow Center for Political Information
Turkey wants more discounts on energy from Russia, of course it’s expecting the Turkish Stream project to happen as well, which is very profitable for it.
In addition to all that, he says, Russia has other priorities too - including fighting Western sanctions:
SOT - Super: Alexei Mukhin, Director, Moscow Center for Political Information
Russia is going to strive for, most likely, more transparent rules of changing international trade. Russia will most likely talk about the need to follow WTO rules in obligatory terms as well as lack of fairness and the so-called “hidden commercial causes” of the so-called “anti-Russian sanctions”. It’s clear to everyone already that the sanctions do not correspond to WTO rules and something needs to be done with this.
The Kremlin’s combination of diplomacy and military action over Syria may cause something of a headache for Western countries, but they can’t ignore it. So Vladimir Putin will head to this year's G20 summit in Turkey feeling confident that Russia’s priorities will be listened to, and it won’t - and can’t - be left isolated again. Lorna Shaddick, Moscow.