G20 members fail to strike consensus over Ukraine war mention in text ahead of summit: Report

The ongoing Ukraine war has dominated the lists of agendas of major summits taking place ever since Russia invaded the neighbouring nation last year on February 24. The same is expected to happen in the upcoming G20 summit, which is scheduled to be held in India in September. But there have been some hurdles because of the disagreements on text related to the Ukraine war at all G20 ministerial meetings.

India-based media outlet Hindustan Times reported citing sources that disagreements over text to refer to the Ukraine war have stalled consensus in outcome documents at all G20 ministerial meetings hosted by India so far.

The report further mentioned that the negotiators are trying to come up with a compromise formulation that will be acceptable to all member states in time for the summit.

Moscow has apparently dissociated itself from all references to Ukraine in documents issued after G20 ministerial meetings while Brazil, the host for G20 Summit in 2024, came up with a proposal to end the deadlock but didn’t get much traction, the report said citing sources.

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Braziloffered a solution in which the reference to Ukraine would be suspended in the context of the leaders' declaration adopted at the 2022 G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

But so far, nothing has been finalised.

Sources told the outlet that China has also raised objections sayingthat G20 is not the right forum to address security issues. Beijing also opposed the inclusion of any "geopolitical content" in outcome documents.

Christina Segal-Knowles, who is the US deputy head of the delegation that participated in the third G20 sherpas' meeting in Hampi, Karnataka, said, "The war in Ukraine is certainly a major issue that's affecting the global economy. We need to be able to talk about that for the G20 to remain a credible institution."

G20 members condemned Russia for quitting grain deal

Recently, several G20 members condemned Russia for quitting the Black Sea grain deal that allowed the safe export of grain from Ukraine and helped tide over the food crisis and inflationary trends due to supply shortage.

"Several members condemned it, saying that shouldn't have happened... passing through the Black Sea shouldn't have been stopped or suspended," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters recetly.

The United Nations-brokered deal expired on July 17 after Russia quit with a warning that it could not guarantee the safety of ships, in a move the UN said would "strike a blow to people in need everywhere."

(With inputs from agencies)

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