Group of Twenty
G20 summit: Putin rejects allegations of war in Ukraine
Vladimir Putin takes part in the G20 summit via video conference. photo
© Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik Kremlin Pool via AP/dpa
At the virtual G20 summit, Putin was also confronted with Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. “Acts of war are always a tragedy,” was his answer.
The Kremlin repeatedly portrays Ukraine as a country allegedly run by “neo-Nazis” and presents the change of power that followed pro-European protests in Kiev in 2014 as the supposed trigger for the war. “Russia has never rejected peace talks with Ukraine.” , Putin now also claimed. Ukraine, on the other hand, refuses to negotiate.
In fact, Russia currently occupies around a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. For Kiev, a withdrawal of Russian troops is a condition for lasting peace. Moscow rejects this.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said after a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that it was a good opportunity to make it clear that peace could easily be restored in Ukraine if Russia withdraws troops. “And we did that and so did others. And in that sense it was interesting because he had to listen.” Meloni spoke similarly. She was visiting Berlin this Wednesday and attended the G20 meeting with Scholz.
Putin talks about Gaza war
At his G20 appearance, Putin then turned his attention to the Gaza conflict. He asked whether his colleagues were not shocked by the murder of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. Terrorists from the Islamist Hamas carried out massacres in Israel on October 7th. Israel’s military then carried out air strikes on the Gaza Strip and deployed ground troops into the sealed-off coastal area. According to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the members of the G20 welcomed the humanitarian pause planned from this Thursday.
The agreement between Israel and Hamas provides for a maximum ten-day ceasefire in Israel and the sealed-off Gaza Strip. Specifically, this involves exchanging up to 100 hostages from Israel for up to 300 Palestinian inmates in Israeli prisons. According to Hamas, the break in fighting is scheduled to begin on Thursday at 10 a.m. local time (9 a.m. CET).
Putin and the problems of the global economy
Putin finally blamed the leading Western powers for inflation and other problems in the global economy. Trillions of US dollars and euros have flowed into the economy, partly to combat the corona epidemic, said Putin. However, this leads to global inflation and increased prices for food and energy, from which poor countries in particular suffer.
The video conference of the heads of state and government from 20 important industrialized and emerging countries was convened by the current Indian G20 presidency. Brazil will take over the presidency from December.