Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner has criticized China because the People’s Republic did not condemn the Russian attack on Ukraine at a G20 meeting. After the meeting with his colleagues from the leading industrialized and emerging countries in Bengaluru, India, Lindner said he very much regrets that the Chinese attitude has changed.

The G20 could not agree on a joint final declaration because of the dispute over the Russian war of aggression. “We jointly condemn the Russian attack on Ukraine. There was a lot in common here – albeit with the exception of the very ambivalent Chinese. That has to be said very clearly,” said Lindner. While there has been “a step backwards on China’s side,” Brazil, for example, has a clearer position.

Common assessments and goals are usually recorded in a closing statement after a G20 meeting. Since the Ukraine war, however, talks have repeatedly stalled because Russia is also a member of the Group of 20.