Actually, the premiere should have taken place in mid-February. At that time, FDP leader Christian Lindner wanted to board the government plane for the first time, as the new federal finance minister and participant in the G-20 finance ministers’ meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia. But then the pandemic threw a spanner in the works. The meeting was largely held virtually, and Lindner also stayed in Berlin.
Exactly one week later, Russia invaded the Ukraine, and since then Lindner has been primarily concerned with setting up a special fund worth 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr and a “supplementary budget” of up to 30 billion euros. The aim is to mitigate the consequences of the war for the citizens and companies in Germany. In addition, two billion euros in military “training aid” are planned, most of which will go to Ukraine.
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The finance minister landed in Washington on Tuesday evening to take part in the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the meeting of finance ministers from the leading industrialized and emerging countries (G20). And this subsequent premiere of Lindner in a large international circle is completely influenced by the war. On Wednesday morning, the minister said that the global economic recovery after the pandemic was delayed because of the war. You can see inflation risks, interrupted supply chains and bottlenecks. “Russia bears sole responsibility for these macroeconomic risks,” stressed Lindner.
No unified attitude towards Russia
In addition to the economic issues, the international community in Washington is also confronted with a very fundamental problem. Namely, how to properly discuss the dominant issue, the war, when Moscow is at the table – after all, Russia is part of the G-20 group.
After the invasion of Crimea, Russia was excluded from the former G-8 group of the most important industrialized countries, so that the group has shrunk to the G-7 format. But G 20 has not yet become G 19. Also because the remaining 19 members by no means have a unified attitude towards Russia. For example, when the United Nations General Assembly in March strongly condemned Russia’s war of aggression and called on Russia to end the aggression, the G-20 members included China, India and South Africa.
Lindner spoke on Wednesday of China’s “special responsibility” to make it clear to Russia that Beijing also condemns “violations of international law such as a war of aggression”. In the past, China had “always attached importance to territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs,” said Lindner. “The same must then apply to Ukraine.”
Russia must be isolated “politically, economically and financially,” says Lindner
Some countries apparently do not want a boycott of all discussion formats in which Russian representatives sit at the table – although it is reported that there were lengthy discussions in advance about how to behave. Lindner said on Wednesday that the meeting in Washington must send a clear signal that the international community strongly condemned the Russian attack. “Russia must be isolated,” he stressed, “politically, economically and financially.” He expects that “with a Putin-Russia whose leaders bear responsibility for war crimes, a return to normality will not be possible for a very long time.”
A joint final declaration by the G20 is not planned this time. Even at the meeting in Jakarta, after a tedious struggle, it was only enough to say that major global risks would continue to be monitored, including those arising from geopolitical tensions. After almost two months of war, the other states are apparently no longer willing to hide the global crisis behind harmless words again. Russia will not be offered a stage to “spread lies and propaganda,” said Lindner. Should Russian representatives undertake this attempt, the minister wants to make an effort “to find a joint reaction” within the framework of the German G-7 presidency.