G20 diplomats could not reach common ground over russia’s war against Ukraine

Diplomats from the G20 countries could not reach a common ground on russia's war in Ukraine and agree on how to deal with its global consequences during the Bali meeting.

It is written by Espresso, citing the Associated Press.

The newspaper reports that the diplomats did not agree on the final communiqué and did not take a traditional group photo, as was done in previous years.

The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov defiantly ignored each other while in the same room.

The meeting came just hours after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation, prompting his foreign secretary Liz Truss to leave Bali. Former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's assassination was announced later during the meeting. Johnson and Abe are well-known members of the G-20 family, having participated in numerous similar conferences and summits. One of the goals of Friday's meeting was to lay the groundwork for the upcoming G-20 summit, which Indonesia will host in November.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia Retno L.P. Marsudi called on the group, which included Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Blinken, and several European colleagues, to overcome mistrust for the sake of the planet, which faces multiple challenges from the coronavirus to climate change, as well as Ukraine.

"The world has not yet recovered from the pandemic, but we are already facing another crisis — the war in Ukraine. The consequences are felt worldwide in food, energy, and physical space," said Marsudi.

She noted that poor and developing countries are now facing the burden of fuel and grain shortages caused by the war in Ukraine and said the G20 must step up and address the issue. According to her, the war in Ukraine shook this order. Lavrov, meanwhile, was shuffling papers in his seat between the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Mexico.

But after the meeting ended, the minister could not point to any agreements reached by all participants. She added that only "some countries have expressed their condemnation of the act of invasion" by russia.

Neither Lavrov nor Blinken talked to each other, although they sat at the same large negotiating table.

When asked why there was no group photo, Lavrov replied: "I did not invite anyone to take a photo with me. It is obvious that they used the G-20 for purposes that had not been foreseen at the time of its creation."

At the second session of the G-20, Blinken accused Moscow of blocking millions of tons of grain in Ukrainian ports. U.S. officials have hinted that there will be no group communique, as there has been in previous years when the group has issued joint statements on key issues such as terrorism, transnational crime, climate, and economic issues seen as plans for global action.

To tread a neutral path, this year's G-20 president, Indonesia, has set out an agenda that is not inherently politically divisive. The country has tried to remain neutral toward russia's invasion of Ukraine, and President Joko Widodo has been cautious in his comments.

Read Rubryka's daily timeline of war: current news on Ukraine's defense against russia's aggression.