Russian diplomacy chief Sergei Lavrov confirmed this Thursday in New Delhi, India, that there will be no joint statement at the end of the G20 ministerial meeting and blamed Western nations for the failure.
“We spoke with good manners. Well, our Western colleagues have become very bad in this matter. They don’t think about diplomacy anymore, they just blackmail and threaten everyone,” Lavrov told reporters.
“Unfortunately, it was not possible to approve the joint statement of the G20 ministers. Our Western colleagues, like a year ago during the Indonesian presidency, tried (…) with lies and rhetorical statements to draw attention to the situation in Ukraine first,” Lavrov stated.
The head of Russian diplomacy added that the Western proposal was “presented under the guise of so-called Russian aggression” against Ukraine.
According to Lavrov, the final statement will be replaced by a summary of the discussions within the framework of the G20, a group of the world’s major rich and developing economies.
“The discussion, at least in the speeches of the Western delegations, degenerated into emotional statements. And all this, of course, undermined the normal debate about the real issues on the agenda of the G20,” said Lavrov.
The head of Russian diplomacy stressed that due to this attitude of Western countries “the declaration was blocked”.
“The results of the talks will be presented in a summary to be presented by the Indian presidency. I hope they are an objective reflection of the exchange of views that took place,” the Russian minister stressed.
On the conflict in Ukraine, Lavrov reiterated that Russia has “never rejected serious proposals, which are submitted in the sincere pursuit of a political solution”, and underlined that Western countries call on Russia for dialogue, but not on Ukraine .
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares had already stated today that it would be very difficult for Russia to accept a joint declaration.
“Unfortunately the intervention of the minister [Lavrov] it was in the context of the Russian narrative, denying the illegality of the war and not listening to all those who are asking for peace for Ukraine,” Albares told EFE news agency.
Albares held a bilateral meeting with China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang, stressing that “the most important thing is for China to be clear about the idea and need for peace”.
“We’re talking about a country [China] that it is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and that it has a clear relationship with Russia. The Chinese minister told me he is in favor of peace,” Albares said.
The G20 meeting, which took place in New Delhi, India, ended today.
Source: DN
