Russia's President Vladimir Putin is welcomed by Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) is welcomed by Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott upon his arrival for the G20 summit in Brisbane November 15, 2014. The meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 economies has opened in Brisbane, Australia, with Abbott stressing the importance of global economic issues at a summit that has been dominated by the crisis in Ukraine, climate change and the United States's Asia-Pacific pivot. REUTERS/Alain Jocard/Pool

Russian President Vladimir Putin left the G20 summit ahead of time. He said that he would need to get to bed early.

Kremlin earlier complained that the international leader present at the G20 gave Putin a cold shoulder over Ukraine. However, Putin apparently had some other reason to leave early from the summit. He said that he would need to sleep for at least four hours before taking an 18-hour journey back to Russia. He said that he had to get back to work on Monday. When Putin gave his reasons to his Australian counterpart, Tony Abbott, he apparently said "no problem."

The Australian prime minister treated Putin with courtesy even though he had earlier promised to "shirtfront" him over the MH17 tragedy. Abbott said that he had treated Putin in such manner as he was a guest to the country. The Russian president was also quite courteous toward Abbott as he had praised the Australian PM before leaving on Sunday. While international leaders like Angela Merkel (Germany), Stephen Harper (Canada) and David Cameron (Britain) had strong words for Putin over Ukraine, Abbott cuddled a koala alongside the Russian president.

Even though Abbott acknowledged that APEC forums and the G20 gave the international leaders the prospect to confront Putin, his role as the host of the summit was different. "When all is said and done President Putin was a guest in our country, President Putin is a member of the G20 and I was happy to treat him with respect and courtesy while he was here in Australia," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Abbott. Putin praised the Australian PM or creating a wonderful working atmosphere for the G20. He said that he had "very substantive conversations" with Abbott even though they did not agree in some issues. He called his conversations with Abbott as "professional" and "disciplined."

Russia's Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier ruled out reports that Putin had plans to leave the G20 early due to the criticism he faced over Ukraine. Bloomberg reported that Peskov had called the speculations "nonsense." He called it a "routine situation" for Russia to get criticised over Ukraine.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au