Language on invasion of Ukraine noticeably softened compared with statement after last year’s summit
Russia’s foreign minister has hailed the G20 summit in Delhi as a success, after Moscow was shielded from criticism over the Ukraine war in a joint declaration.
“We were able to prevent the west’s attempts to Ukrainise the summit agenda,” Sergei Lavrov said as the two-day meeting drew to a close.
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, hailed a diplomatic triumph after all members of the group, including China, reached a toughly negotiated consensus and signed a joint declaration on issues covering climate, economic cooperation and, most divisively, the war in Ukraine.
The language on the invasion of Ukraine was noticeably softened, seemingly to appease China and Russia, omitting any condemnation of Moscow or reference to Russia’s aggressions, which was included in last year’s G20 joint statement signed in Bali. The new wording drew criticism from Kyiv, which said the joint statement was “nothing to be proud of”.
Lavrov claimed it was a diplomatic win for Russia, saying the declaration “fully reflects our position”.
He said he had not expected western countries to agree to the statement, after the Russian and Chinese delegations made it clear they no longer accepted the wording used to condemn the invasion of Ukraine at last year’s summit.
“Perhaps it was the voice of their conscience,” Lavrov said. “Frankly speaking, we didn’t expect that. We were ready to defend our wording of the text.”
He said it was a sign that the global south would no longer blindly follow the western powers. “They don’t want to be told to follow the Zelenskiy formula,” Lavrov said, referring to the Ukrainian president.
