The chief negotiators of the European Union and the 19 leading economic powers agreed on a draft joint final declaration shortly before the start of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. This was confirmed by EU Council President Charles Michel at a press conference on Tuesday morning. According to information from German press agency the EU and Western states, against initial resistance from Moscow, managed to get Russia’s war against Ukraine sharply condemned in the text.
Designation as a war and not as a “military special operation”
The communiqué is to be presented to the heads of state and government at their meeting on Tuesday. There had previously been fears that this could become the first G20 summit to end without a joint declaration. But the evening before, diplomats had said that Russia was probably ready to accept such a passage. According to a Western diplomat, the Russian attack should clearly be described as a war – and not as a “military special operation,” as Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin calls it. A senior US official said it was a strong condemnation by most members of the G20. The focus was on forming the broadest possible coalition within the G20. That was successful.
The US official said: “I think most members of the G20 will make it clear that they condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine and that they see the war in Ukraine as the cause of immense economic and humanitarian suffering in the country look at the world.”
Michel: More pressure on Russia
Charles Michel also wants to increase pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine. “We should try to use the G20 meeting to convince all partners to put more pressure on Russia,” said Michel at the press conference in Bali. The best way to deal with the food crisis is for Russia to end the senseless war in Ukraine. He has no plans to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
Russia’s approval of the draft text was seen as a sign that Moscow can no longer even count on the support of its powerful partner China when it comes to Ukraine in the G20 group. Foreign Minister Lavrov had already indicated that Russia would make concessions on Monday. He had said in a video from his ministry that the final declaration would be accepted. “This year we also experienced the war in Ukraine, which further affected the global economy,” the G20 paper said. In addition, according to Monday evening, Russia accepted that the final declaration quoted from a United Nations resolution on the war. In this, the war is sharply condemned and Russia is asked to withdraw its troops. Putin’s chief negotiator is also said to have agreed that the use of nuclear weapons should be described as inadmissible in the final declaration.
At the two-day G20 summit, in addition to the EU, the countries Germany, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the represented in the United States. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is there for Germany. The “Group of 20” together accounts for almost two-thirds of the world’s population, three-quarters of world trade and four-fifths of global economic power. The annual summit has been held since 2008. The G20 now deals with many other global issues in addition to economic and financial issues.