Most members at the G20 summit condemn war in Ukraine, draft declaration says

World leaders at the ongoing Group of 20 (G20) summit released a draft of the declaration on Tuesday, in which they said that "most" members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and its repercussions on the global economy. This was mentioned in the 16-page draft that is yet to be adopted by G20 member countries.

The document also mentioned the G20 members' concern over global food security challenges that are posed in front of the world due to escalations between Russia and Ukraine.As Ukraine is among the top three exporters of grain in the world and is also often called the "bread basket of Europe", it is becoming difficult for Ukraine to produce grains due to disruptions of supply lines.On the other hand, Russia is also among the major producers of staple food items, both Ukraine and Russia together provide 90 per cent of the wheat supply in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Eritrea, Georgia, Mongolia and Somalia.

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The draft stated, "Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy," commenting that Russia had opposed dialogue.

Suggesting that some countries may not have agreed to the draft declaration, a European diplomat said, "There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions".The declaration was drafted in the first session of the summit held on Tuesday, in which many countries also condemned Russia over its invasion of Ukraine or the "special military operation", as declared by Russia.

The draft declaration further added that "Recognising that the G20 is not the forum to resolve security issues, we acknowledge that security issues can have significant consequences for the global economy."This was mentioned in a response to the Russian foreign ministry's statement on Sunday that G20 was not the place where security issues should be discussed, rather world's economic challenges should be prioritised.

While highlighting the debt issues, the draft declaration focuses on the importance of all creditors sharing a fair burden, without the mention of China. China has been criticised by the west for delaying efforts in mitigating the burden for some emerging countries.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also urged leaders at the summit via a video link to take some concrete actions against Russia's war in his country under a peace plan proposed by him.

(With inputs from agencies)

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