‘We didn’t expect that…’: Russia’s Lavrov about G20 Leaders’ declaration

Russian Minister Sergei Lavrov, on Sunday (September 10), speaking about the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration adopted in the second session of Day One of the G20 Summit, said that Moscow did not expect the document to be adopted and was ready to defend itself and the wording about the Ukraine war. He also said that it is due to the countries of the global south that Russia managed to ensure the G20 agenda was not overshadowed by the Ukraine conflict.

What did Lavrov say about the declaration?

During a press conference, when asked about the consensus over the New Delhi G20 Leaders’ Summit Declaration, Lavrov said, “When they agreed to that, perhaps it was the voice of their conscience. Speaking frankly, we didn’t expect that. We were 100 per cent ready to defend our honest wording of the text…Let me underline that we cannot isolate that paragraph (on Ukraine and Russia) from the rest of the work on the declaration.”

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He added, “The main content of the declaration this year is all about the awakening of the Global South and the consolidation of the Global South that is truly willing for the G20 to work for its main goals.”

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This comes a day after the Delhi Declaration upon upholding “the principles of international law including territorial integrity and sovereignty” of states. While refraining from making any critical mention of Russia and mentioning Ukraine around four times.

‘Everyone wants peace’: Lavrov about the Ukraine war

Responding to a question by news agency ANI about if he thinks there can be a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian official said, “Everyone wants peace...About 18 months ago we agreed to sign a treaty about settling this conflict. We even initialled these documents.”

However, he alleged that the “Anglo-Saxons ordered (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy not to sign it because they thought they would be able to reap some confessions from us…,” as quoted by ANI.

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“President Putin has recently said that we do not mind negotiations however any such negotiations need to consider the realities on the ground and take into account the reasons that have been accumulating for decades upon decades due to NATO's aggressive policy,” he added.

Russia to rejoin grain deal once its conditions are met: Lavrov

When asked about the Black Sea grain deal, the Russian foreign minister said Moscow would rejoin the agreement on the ‘same day’ after its conditions for export of its own grain and fertilisers to global markets are met.

“When all the necessary actions for removing obstacles for our grain and fertiliser exports are implemented, the same day we will return to the collective implementation of the Ukrainian part of the Black Sea initiative,” said Lavrov, during the press conference.

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This comes a day after the European Union reprimanded Russia during the G20 summit for pulling out of the Black Sea grain deal, which provided a safe passage for Ukraine to export its grain and called its offer of a million tonnes of grain to African countries a “parody of generosity”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, on Saturday, said that Russia is sticking to its demands to rejoin the grain deal and rejected the UN’s proposal that a Luxembourg-based subsidiary of Rosselkhozbank could immediately apply to SWIFT to “effectively enable access” for the bank within 30 days.

(With inputs from agencies)



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