Vladimir Putin confirmed to attend G20 in Brisbane, Joe Hockey expects ‘full and …

The Treasurer Joe Hockey has confirmed Russian president Vladimir Putin will attend next month’s G20 summit in Brisbane.

The Federal Government and Opposition have been highly critical of Russia’s response to the MH17 plane crash as well as its behaviour towards Ukraine.

Mr Hockey told the ABC’s Insiders program, he spoke with Russia’s finance minister in Washington on Saturday.

“We had a lengthy discussion. I certainly shared with him my views and the views of Australia about Russia’s activity in Ukraine and he did confirm that president Putin will be coming to the G20 leaders’ summit in Brisbane and I think there will be some full and frank dialogue at that meeting,” Mr Hockey said.

The decision comes as the Kremlin announces Ukraine’s leader Petro Poroshenko and Mr Putin may hold diplomatic talks next week.

Putin, Poroshenko in diplomatic talks

Kyiv and its Western backers have accused Moscow of backing a pro-Russian separatist revolt in eastern Ukraine by providing troops and arms.

Russia has denied the charges and said it has a right to defend the interests of the region’s Russian-speaking majority.

The Kremlin said Mr Putin and Mr Poroshenko may hold talks on the sidelines of a summit of Asian and European leaders in Milan on October 16-17.

“I don’t expect the talks will be easy. I’m used to this, I have a lot of experience of conducting very difficult diplomatic talks. But I’m an optimist,” Interfax Ukraine news agency quoted Mr Poroshenko as telling reporters.

He said some European leaders might also join his talks with Mr Putin.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said a “Normandy-style meeting” could not be ruled out – a reference to talks in France in June involving Mr Putin, Mr Poroshenko and the leaders of Germany and France.

“The key and main question is peace. Russia’s role in the issue of providing peace, as you understand, is difficult to overestimate,” Mr Poroshenko said.

“And today we raise the issue of moving from declarations to concrete steps.”

Mr Putin and Mr Poroshenko are known so far to have met twice since the Ukrainian leader’s election in May, firstly in Normandy and then in the Belarussian capital Minsk in August when they agreed on the need for a ceasefire between Kyiv’s forces and the pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine-Russia gas deal eyed

A ceasefire began on September 5 and has broadly held despite frequent violations, especially around the airport of Donetsk, the biggest city of eastern Ukraine.

The European Union and the United States imposed economic sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, where Moscow has also annexed the Crimea peninsula.

In retaliation, Russia has banned most Western food imports.

The United Nations said on Wednesday the death toll from the conflict in eastern Ukraine now stood at more than 3,660 people.

Mr Poroshenko also said on Saturday he hoped to make “significant progress” in Milan on resolving Ukraine’s long-running gas pricing dispute with Russia.

Russia shut off gas deliveries to Ukraine in June over what it said were more than $5 billion in unpaid bills and Ukraine faces a possibility of energy shortages this winter if no deal is reached, risking a replay of the disruptions to Europe’s gas supplies seen in 2006 and 2009.

“We believe that Ukraine’s proposals are absolutely clear, concrete and justified. We are sure that we are significantly closer to solving this issue,” he told reporters.

Separately, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and US secretary of state John Kerry are expected to discuss the situation in Ukraine at a meeting in Paris on October 14.

Mr Poroshenko, whose country holds parliamentary elections later this month, has faced some domestic criticism over elements of a peace plan agreed with Russia, especially his offer of autonomy to rebel-held regions of eastern Ukraine.

News agency Interfax reported late on Friday that Mr Poroshenko had sacked one of those critics, Serhiy Taruta, a billionaire businessman, as governor of the Donetsk region.

Mr Poroshenko has appointed in Mr Taruta’s place as governor Oleksander Kikhtenko, a former head of interior ministry forces, Interfax said.

Reuters