Russia blames Westerners for lack of consensus following G20 in India | War in Ukraine

The meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors ended on a tense note due to China's position on the war in Ukraine when other countries wanted the word “war” in the final press release.

Russia was quick to accuse the West of 'destabilizing' the G20 meeting of financiers and central bankers that ended in India on Saturday without agreement on a statement. common because of differences over the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin denounced the “blackmail” to sign a joint document.

We regret that the activities of the G20 continue to be destabilized by the collective West and used in an anti-Russian and purely confrontational manner, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

According to Moscow, the United States, the European Union and the G7 disrupted the adoption of collective decisions by trying to impose a diktat by means of clear blackmail so that their interpretation of the conflict in Ukraine is included in the joint communiqué. The G20 must remain an economic forum rather than encroaching on the security sphere, the statement continued.

Meeting since Friday in Bangalore, the technological capital of the India, the G20 Finance was trying to agree on solutions to the challenges posed by the global economy, in the context of the war in Ukraine and rising inflation.

India, which holds the G20 presidency, released a summary of the discussions after the meetings on Saturday, but no joint statement.

“Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine” with “different assessments of the situation and sanctions.

— From document

An annotation indicates that within the G20, only China and Russia did not approve two paragraphs on Ukraine.

Representatives Russia and China did not sign the language on Ukraine, arguing that their role was to deal with economic and financial issues, senior Indian official Ajay Seth told reporters. /p>

Last year, in previous G20 Finance meetings under the Indonesian presidency, no joint communiqué was drafted either.

Discussions are more difficult than at previous G20 Finance meetings as the war continues, Spanish Finance Minister Nadia Calviño warned on Saturday.

As a result, some positions may -be less constructive on certain issues, the minister had underlined, without specifying which country(ies) she was referring to.

China wanted to tone down language used about Ukraine in the joint G20 Finance statement, according to several officials familiar with the talks interviewed by AFP on condition of anonymity.

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According to one of them, China does not want to condemn the war in Ukraine.

The discussions to agree on a term lasted until 2 a.m. Saturday, another official said. In vain.

China has never publicly endorsed or criticized the offensive, but has repeatedly expressed support for Moscow in the face of Western sanctions.

One ​​Year to the Day after the entry of Russian troops into Ukrainian territory, Beijing on Friday unveiled a document reaffirming its position.

The text, organized into 12 points, presents China as an actor neutral calling on both sides to start peace talks.

For its part, India, which chairs the G20 and has long-standing ties with Russia, did not condemn Moscow's military intervention.

Germany and France pleaded on Friday for the inclusion of the term war in the final communiqué of the meeting.

In Ukraine, it is it is a war. And this war has one cause, one cause only, and that is Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner stressed.

The French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire had supported the remarks of his German counterpart.

We will oppose any step back in the joint press release in relation to the declaration made in Bali about the war in Ukraine, he had warned, during a press conference in English.

In November, the leaders of the State and leaders of the G20 countries met at a summit in Bali, Indonesia.

Their final statement stated that most members had strongly condemned the war.

For two days, the G20 powers also spoke in India about the debt of the poorest countries.

It was a very good meeting. India's presidency has done a good job and focused on the issues that really matter, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said.

In Bali last year, the Finance G20 agreed to jointly tackle the debt problems of poor countries, without succeeding in reaching an agreement on the question of the war in Ukraine. (File photo)

In 2020, the G20 agreed on a common framework for restructuring the debt of the poorest countries, but its implementation is slow.

The discussions in Bangalore also touched on the supervision of cryptocurrencies, but also the reform of international financial institutions.

In October, the World Bank launched an initial roadmap, with the aim of better meeting the financing needs of developing countries in the face of the challenges posed by inflation, indebtedness or even climate change.