Ukraine criticises G20 for not condemning Russia's invasion
Ukraine on Saturday criticised a statement by G20 leaders that condemned the use of force in Ukraine but did not explicitly mention Russia, Agerpres reports.
"Ukraine is grateful to partners who tried to include a strong formulation in the text. However, in terms of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the G20 has nothing to be proud of," said Oleg Nikolenko, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Nikolenko posted a modified version of the G20 summit's official statement on his Facebook page, in which words or phrases were deleted and replaced with others in red, to reflect the wording that Ukrainian authorities would have preferred.
For example, "regarding the war in Ukraine" became "regarding the war against Ukraine," and "all states must refrain from the threat or use of force" was replaced with "Russia must refrain from..."
Nikolenko also said that "it is clear that Ukraine's participation in this G20 summit would have allowed participants to better understand the situation."
The leaders of the G20 countries on Saturday condemned the use of force to gain territorial gains in Ukraine, but did not condemn Russian aggression against the country, according to a statement that will be released at the end of the summit.
"Regarding the war in Ukraine (...) in connection with the UN Charter, all states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek to obtain territorial gains against the territorial integrity and political independence of any state," said representatives of the G20 countries, who did not mention a Russian "aggression" in Ukraine, however, which was mentioned in the declaration adopted in 2022 in Bali.
However, Jake Sullivan, the White House national security advisor, welcomed the wording of the current statement. "From our point of view, a good job has been done," he told reporters.
Indian Prime Minister and G20 host Narendra Modi announced on Saturday the adoption of the final statement of the summit, after the group reached a consensus. Reaching consensus among G20 members has become increasingly difficult in recent years, especially due to divisions over the position to be taken on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the funding needed to adapt to climate change.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
