The West failed to make the G20 summit in New Delhi revolve around the Ukraine conflict, thanks in no small part to the efforts of developing countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Lavrov, who headed the Russian delegation at the gathering, praised summit host India, which he claimed helped to consolidate the countries of the Global South. As a result, they stood up “to protect their legitimate interests,” which made it possible “to prevent the West from once again Ukrainizing the entire agenda” of the summit and diverting attention from the urgent problems facing emerging economies.
The foreign minister pointed out that the joint declaration “mentions the Ukraine crisis, but only in the context of the need to resolve all conflicts” in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter.
Lavrov insisted that the G20 must focus on economic and financial issues, and praised emerging countries, which prevented the meeting from turning into a “politicized club.”
The final G20 declaration, which was adopted on Saturday “highlighted the human suffering and negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security, supply chains, macro-financial stability, inflation and growth.” It also acknowledged that some G20 members had differing views on the hostilities between Moscow and Kiev.
Before the declaration was released, Reuters reported that the paragraph on Ukraine had been a major stumbling block as Western countries pushed for a strong condemnation of Russia, an approach that encountered opposition from other members.