The meeting of G20 finance ministers ended this Saturday in India with no consensus on the final document on the war in Ukraine, with Russia and China expressing opposition to the wording of the text.
Executive Summary and Result Paper from the G20 President claiming that there was no agreement on the wording of the war in Ukraine, at this Indian-hosted meeting that began on Friday, the day marking one year after the Russian invasion.
Despite opposition from Moscow and Beijing, most members “strongly condemned the war in Ukraine,” in terms similar to those agreed in Bali (Indonesia) last year, and criticized its impact on the global economy, according to the summary of the meetings of finance officials and presidents of the G20 central banks.
The group of seven major industrialized nations announced new sanctions against Russia on Friday, but G20 talks ended in disagreement in India’s technology hub Bangalore, in southern India.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen condemned the “illegal and baseless war against Ukraine” and reiterated calls for G20 countries to do more to support Ukraine and thwart Moscow’s war effort.
The Russian and Chinese representatives did not attend the final session in person, but the remaining members of the group of the world’s major economies blamed the conflict for rising inflation, supply chain disruption and increased food and energy insecurity.
Spain’s vice-president of the government, Nadia Calviño, had already warned during the negotiations that talks between finance leaders were “less constructive”.
G20 host nation India’s stance on the conflict was also seen as one of the biggest obstacles to the unanimous adoption of a statement.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who avoided using the word “war” or mentioning Russia, said on Saturday that “Since the beginning of the events in Ukraine, India has been pushing to resolve this dispute through dialogue and diplomacy”.
For its part, the G7 took advantage of the Bangalore meeting to reaffirm its support for Ukraine, with financial support of $39 billion until 2023, to step up pressure on the G20 to take a clearer stance on the global situation.
The G20 is currently chaired by India, which succeeded Indonesia in the rotating leadership of the group, and has longstanding ties with Russia, without condemning Moscow’s military intervention.
In November, at a G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali, the closing statement said that “the majority of [países] members strongly condemned the war” against Ukraine.
Germany’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Friday that any more moderate wording in India would be “unacceptable to Germany”.
Lindner was supported in this position by his French counterpart, Bruno Le Maire.
“We will oppose any retraction of the joint statement compared to the statement made in Bali on the war in Ukraine,” Le Maire told AFP.
China has never publicly supported or criticized the Russian offensive, but has repeatedly expressed support for Moscow despite Western sanctions.
Speaking of the meeting, Calviño told Europa Press that there is broad consensus that debt management and debt relief can be an important tool to provide financial support to the most vulnerable countries.
The Spanish minister expressed hope that the war in Ukraine “ends as soon as possible so that the global economy can return to the path of strong recovery or strong growth” it was on after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The war against Ukraine is “the main element of global uncertainty and concern, with a long duration and a wide-ranging impact around the world,” he said.
The G20 also includes countries such as Russia, the United States, Japan, South Africa, Brazil, Turkey, Italy, the United Kingdom or Australia.
Source: DN
