Vladimir Putin to attend Group of 20 summit in Brisbane despite opposition

Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to attend a Group of 20 summit in the Australian city of Brisbane, Interfax news agency said yesterday, despite calls for the hosts to prevent him attending because of Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis.

"The president is continuing to prepare for the upcoming summit of the G20 in Australia," the agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey said on Saturday that the G20 members expected Russia to attend the leaders' summit that Australia is hosting in November despite concerns over its actions in Ukraine.

"We've consulted with a number of the countries and the emphatic view came back that of course we should allow Russia to attend the G20," said Hockey.

On the ground in Ukraine yesterday, both government troops and pro-Russian rebels began withdrawing heavy artillery in the country's east, a significant step toward implementing an effective ceasefire.

Ukraine military spokesman Colonel Andriy Lysenko said Kiev's forces had started withdrawing from front-line positions. He said the rebels had also begun their withdrawal of heavy artillery, although it was "not as massive as we expected".