French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that the G20, which was founded to solve international economic issues, was not necessarily the place to expect diplomatic progress on the war in Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the G20 declaration was not a diplomatic victory for Russia.
“This G20 confirms once again the isolation of Russia. Today, an overwhelming majority of G20 members condemn the war in Ukraine and its impact,” Macron told a press conference after the closing ceremony of the summit.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is something that could shake the foundation of cooperation at G20.
Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has left tens of thousands dead, displaced millions and sown economic turmoil across the world. Moscow, which says it is conducting a “special military operation” there, denies committing any atrocities.
The summit also admitted the African Union, which includes 55 member states, as a permanent member of the G20, underlining the bloc’s inclusivity of more developing countries.
Addressing food security concerns, Lavrov said Russia would return to the Black Sea deal that lets Ukraine export grain if Moscow’s demands were met. Moscow pulled out of the agreement in July over what it called a failure to meet its demands to implement a parallel agreement easing rules for its own food and fertiliser export. The summit document had called for the safe flow of grain, food and fertiliser from both Ukraine and Russia.
Russia, Ukraine and Turkey are going to continue to discuss the grain deal, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said, saying that reviving the agreement was “not hopeless”. “This was one of the most difficult G20 summits in the almost twenty-year history of the forum … it took almost 20 days to agree on the declaration before the summit and five days here on the spot,” Svetlana Lukash, the Russian G20 government negotiator, was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Interfax.
“This was not only due to some disagreements on the Ukraine subject, but also due to differences in positions on all key issues, primarily the issues of climate change and the transition to low-carbon energy systems…”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the head of the Russian delegation as President Vladimir Putin did not come, said the summit was a success for India as well as the Global South, the world’s developing countries. The Global South’s position in the talks helped prevent the G20 agenda from being overshadowed by Ukraine, he told a press conference. “India has truly consolidated G20 members from the Global South.”
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters the summit declaration “does a very good job of standing up for the principle that states cannot use force to seek territorial acquisition or to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of other states”.
Germany and Britain have also praised the resolution, but Ukraine said “it was nothing to be proud of”. A European Union official, who did not want to be identified, said on Sunday the Ukraine war was the most contentious issue in the negotiations.
“Without India’s leadership it would not have been possible,” the official said, adding that Brazil and South Africa also played a crucial role in bridging differences.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin both skipped the summit.
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