The Group of Twenty countries’ leaders won’t come together to discuss the language describing Russia’s war in Ukraine, with host India shifting to one-on-one discussions in an attempt to get an agreement.
(Bloomberg) — The Group of Twenty countries’ leaders won’t come together to discuss the language describing Russia’s war in Ukraine, with host India shifting to one-on-one discussions in an attempt to get an agreement.
With G-20 nations taking sides in the war — mainly for Ukraine — India is taking steps so that consensus on language can be achieved at the leaders’ summit in September, according to people familiar with the matter. They declined to be identified as discussions are private.
Russia’s war in Ukraine “is not our creation and not a priority,” Amitabh Kant, chief negotiator for India’s G-20 presidency, said on Saturday. “Inclusive and sustainable growth, the African Union’s membership to G-20 and the framework to restructure debt were New Delhi’s priorities.”
Since Russia’s invasion, India has emerged as one of the biggest swing nations, maintaining close ties with the US but abstaining from votes at the United Nations to condemn the war. It’s also held back from participating in US-led efforts to sanction Moscow and continues to buy cheap Russian oil.
But as the G-20 host, India is caught in the middle. Countries such as the US, the UK, Canada and Japan insist on mentioning President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine in a communique traditionally issued after the leaders’ summit scheduled in September. Russia and China are firmly opposed to it, leading to an impasse.
India is still aiming for a joint statement for the finance chiefs’ meeting next week, which officials are hoping will lay the groundwork for the leaders’ summit communique. If that doesn’t materialize, the South Asian country will become first G-20 chair to fail to issue such a statement since 2008.
At the last finance chiefs meeting in April, New Delhi neither had a communique nor a chair’s statement, underscoring deep divisions within the group. This has made India realize political intervention at the heads of states’ level will be needed to reach a consensus, according to the people.
Political heavy lifting may be required and the grounds for it need to prepared, said the people involved in negotiations when asked whether there was a possibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally intervening to come up with a joint G-20 statement.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs didn’t respond to a request for comment on the talks.
Brazil, which takes over the G-20 presidency from India in 2024, has suggested countries should acknowledge Russia’s war in Ukraine and the disagreement over the issue in any formal statements, the people said. This proposal hasn’t found much traction for now, they said.
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