Ukraine accused Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of war propaganda at the G20 summit of leading and emerging economic powers. After Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin failed to travel to the meeting in New Delhi, India, Lavrov justified and promoted the invasion there, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser in the Ukrainian presidential office, complained on the Freedom TV channel.
“He is a promoter of the war in Ukraine,” Podolyak said. More international arrest warrants for war crimes like those against Putin are needed to prevent such actions by “nationals like Lavrov.”
The summit statement no longer condemns the war in Ukraine
Russia’s war of aggression is no longer explicitly condemned in the summit statement, as was the case last year. Instead, reference is made only to relevant United Nations resolutions – and generally to the territorial integrity of states, i.e. the inviolability of borders. Diplomats viewed the compromise wordings as the lowest common denominator, but this prevented the summit from collapsing.
Ukraine has sharply criticized the final statement. “The G20 has nothing to be proud of,” Kiev Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko said on the social network X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.
He published corrections highlighted in red in the document as they should look from Ukraine’s perspective. According to Nikolenko, we should not talk about a ‘war in Ukraine’, but clearly about ‘Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine’. Moreover, the G20 countries should have unanimously condemned the war and called on Moscow to end the invasion immediately.
G20 summit: Ukraine was not invited
Ukraine was not invited by India. Last year, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set the agenda on the holiday island via video from Kiev.
Russia satisfied with G20 statement
In New Delhi, the Russian side expressed satisfaction over the summit statement. Negotiator Svetlana Lukasch spoke of a “balanced” result. The leading industrialized and emerging countries will continue their discussions on Sunday. The heads of state and government first visited the monument to the Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi.
Finally, there is the third working session, which has the motto ‘One Future’. This concerns reforms of development banks and international financial organizations. In all likelihood, there will be no more major joint decisions. The G20 round had already agreed on a final declaration on Saturday.
Source: Krone
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