Despite major differences of opinion on the Ukraine war, the G20 group of leading industrialized and emerging countries adopted a joint final declaration at their summit in Bali. The paper was officially adopted on the Indonesian holiday island on Wednesday. In the statement, the vast majority of G20 leaders condemned in the strongest terms Russia’s war of aggression, which has been going on for more than eight months. It also noted Russia’s dissenting stance.
Moscow was only represented at the summit with the second row. President Vladimir Putin decided not to fly to Bali from the outset, instead having Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov represent him. However, Lavrov left the summit early on Tuesday – many hours before the declaration was passed. Before the summit, it was uncertain whether there would be a joint final paper. Since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the G20 has been divided.
In their statement, the states are now referring to a United Nations resolution calling on Russia to cease hostilities and immediately withdraw its troops from Ukraine. “Most of the members condemned the war in Ukraine in the strongest possible terms,” it said. It amplifies the problems of the world economy, weakens growth and allows inflation to rise. Russia’s position is contrasted with the sentence: “There were different views and different assessments of the situation.”
“Deeply concerned” about the global food crisis
What is striking is that the Russian attack is clearly described as a war – and not as a “military special operation” as suggested by Putin. The heads of state and government also found clear words on the subject of nuclear weapons. “The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is prohibited.” Recently, the illegal annexation of four occupied Ukrainian territories had fueled concerns that Putin could use nuclear weapons.
On the other hand, the West has not been able to achieve any great success in questions of energy security, which is endangered, especially in Europe, by the drastically reduced supplies of oil and gas from Russia.
The G20 also expressed “deep concern” about the global food crisis and are committed to the continuation of the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain. They want to step up their efforts to protect the climate – the G20 countries themselves are responsible for 80 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.
In addition to the EU, the group includes Germany, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the USA. The presidency of the G20 is now passing from Indonesia to India. The next summit will also take place there in 2023.
