Finance ministers from the world’s biggest economies failed to agree on a final statement after a summit in India after China refused to condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Beijing refused to accept parts of the G20 statement that condemned Russia’s aggression “in the strongest terms”.
Moscow said “anti-Russian” Western countries had “destabilized” the G20.
It comes after China published a plan this week to end the conflict that some have described as pro-Russian.
India, which hosted this week’s G20 talks in the southern city of Bangalore, released an extensive “chair summary” from the meeting, which said there were “different assessments of the situation” in Ukraine, and sanctions on Russia. On.
A footnote states that the two paragraphs summarizing the war were “agreed upon by all member states except Russia and China”. The paragraphs were taken from the G20 Bali leaders’ declaration in November, and criticized “in the strongest terms the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine”.
After pulling back since the attack a year ago, Beijing has stepped up its diplomatic efforts around the conflict in recent weeks. His top diplomat, Wang Yi, visited Europe this week, culminating in a warm welcome to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
China also published a 12-point plan to end the war in Ukraine this week, in which it called for peace talks and respect for national sovereignty. However, the 12-point document did not specifically say that Russia should withdraw its troops from Ukraine, and did not condemn the Russian invasion.
The Chinese document was welcomed by Russia, prompting US President Joe Biden to comment: “[President] Putin praised it, so how can it be good?”
After the G20 meeting, Ajay Seth, a senior Indian official, said at a press conference that the Russian and Chinese representatives did not agree on words on Ukraine because “their mandate is to deal with economic and financial issues”.
“On the other hand, all the remaining 18 countries felt that the war had an impact on the world economy” and needed to be mentioned.
The 17-paragraph summary of the summit also refers to the recent earthquake in Turkey, debt in low- and middle-income countries, global tax policy and food insecurity.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it regretted the fact that “G20 activities continue to be destabilized by the Western group and are being used in an anti-Russian manner”.
He accused the United States, the European Union and the G7 countries of “blatant blackmail”, urging them to “recognize the objective realities of a multipolar world”.
But German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said: “This is a war. And there is a reason for this war, a reason, and that is Russia and Vladimir Putin. This should be expressed clearly at the G20 finance meeting.”
Previous meetings of G20 members have also failed to produce a joint statement since Russia invaded Ukraine last February.
The United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday overwhelmingly supported a resolution condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The motion was supported by 141 countries, with 32 abstaining and seven voting against, including Russia.
