G20 Foreign Ministers Meet: No Joint Statement on Ukraine, Says Jaishankar; Russia Praises PM's 'Balanced' Statement

G20 Foreign Ministers Meet Updates: The G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on Thursday was unable to issue a joint communique due to sharp differences over the Ukraine conflict. The meeting, held under India’s presidency, adopted a Chair’s Summary and Outcome document as Russia blamed Western countries for lack of consensus in the meeting due their “damaging rhetorical statements.”

India on Thursday urged the G20 countries to send a collective message affirming its resolve to address the complex global challenges, including food and energy security, amid an increasingly bitter rift between the West and the Russia-China combine over the Ukraine conflict.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, without mentioning the Ukraine conflict, said the grouping must find common ground and provide direction to the world though there are some “matters of sharp differences”.

No joint statement of the foreign minister’s meeting will be released as nations addressed challenges and divergent positions on the Ukraine conflict. Jaishankar said the G20 adopted the chair’s summary and Outcome document. Addressing the press after the meeting, the External Minister said, “Foreign Ministers of 27 countries have participated in the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting,” The meeting was the biggest congregation of foreign ministers focused on what unites us, not divides.” He further said the bloc noted that multilateralism is in crisis, and all the member nations condemn terrorism.

The first session of G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meet was held earlier on Thursday on the themes of multilateralism, food and energy security. Meanwhile, while addressing the delegates, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India’s G20 Presidency has tried to give a voice to the Global South. He also said multilateralism is in crisis today and global governance has failed against tackling challenges like terrorism, wars and climate change.

Around 40 delegations are participating in the meeting at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Center in the national capital. The external affairs minister said the Outcome Document and the Chair’s Summary reflected the G20’s resolve to deal with pressing global challenges.

Here are the latest updates in the story:

– External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, addressing the discussions by foreign ministers in the G20 meeting, said, “Foreign ministers condemned terrorism unrevocably in all forms and manifestations and recognise that all acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable. The call for strengthening efforts to deny safe havens to terrorist groups, freedom of operations, movement and recruitment, and financial material or political support.”

– “For the first time, the G20 foreign ministers considered and discussed counter-narcotics and called for inclusive and strong international cooperation in this regard,” Jaishankar stated.

-Speaking on the bilateral meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on the sidelines of the G20 meeting, he said, “It was our first meeting and we spent about 45 minutes talking. The bulk of our conversation was about our relationship. There are real problems in our relations which need to be looked into and discussed candidly. The thrust of the meeting was on our bilateral relationship and the challenges in it, especially that of peace and tranquillity in border areas.”

– Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he would like to apologize to India for the “indecent behaviour of a number of Western delegations that turned the work of the G20 into a farce”.

– The Russian leader further said, “We only expect mutual respect and trust in our relationship with other countries,” adding the G20 nations failed to agree on a mutual statement due to Western nations’ attempt to emphasise Ukraine.”

– The Russian Foreign Minister praised Prime Minister Modi’s earlier statement and said, “PM Modi, presented a balanced and responsible position. He was not just speaking about some isolated individual situation because the West is trying to divide the geopolitical picture. Mr Modi gave an assessment of the situation across the globe.”

– Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said the UN charter cannot be executed randomly, and every state must adhere to the principle of sovereignty and integrity. “They are not interested in the rights of people in Donbas and Crimea,” he added.

– Defending Russia’s actions in Kyiv, Lavrov said, “the inalienable human rights of Russian-speaking people were being undermined and being banned by law by the Ukrainian government.” He further said Ukraine is “encouraging this war” and accused Kyiv for refusing to negotiate.

– External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held bilateral talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting. Jaishankar later tweeted, “Our discussions were focused on addressing current challenges to the bilateral relationship, especially peace and tranquillity in the border areas. We also spoke about the G20 agenda.”

– French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said the Indian presidency’s driving role is absolutely necessary amid the global challenges. Colonna further said that the approach of India’s G-20 presidency — “One Earth One Family One Future” — must guide the grouping to face many challenges facing the globe.

– Catherine Colonna also said Russian aggression has negative consequences for almost every country and added, “The G20 must respond firmly, like it did at the Bali Summit.”

– In a tweet, Antony Blinken said that the US succeeded in advancing shared goals with India at the G20 meeting and achieving the needs of the world.

– US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov briefly met in the first high-level contact between the two countries in months amid the Ukraine conflict. “Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked for contact with Foreign Minister Lavrov, during the second session of the G20 meet,” Russian spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, adding. the “contact but there were no talks or a full-fledged meeting”.

– PM Modi while addressing the foreign ministers’ meeting said that we must acknowledge that multilateralism is in crisis today and issues like terrorism, pandemic and climate change show that global governance has failed.

– “After years of progress, we are at risk today of moving back on the sustainable development goals. Many developing countries are struggling with unsustainable debt while trying to ensure food and energy security for their people,” PM Modi said.

– “In the last few years, financial crises, climate change, pandemic, terrorism and war clearly show that global governance has failed in both its mandates. We must also admit that the tragic consequences of this failure are being faced most by developing countries,” PM Modi said.

– The prime minister further said that India’s theme of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ for its G20 Presidency signals the need for unity of purpose and unity of action.

– PM Modi said he and the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni voiced concerns over the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and the adverse impact the conflict has had on developing countries. “From the very beginning of the Ukraine conflict, India has made it clear that this dispute can only be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy. India is fully prepared to contribute to any peace process,” Modi told reporters.

– “The two Prime Ministers discussed the destabilizing effect of the conflict in Ukraine and its broader regional and global implications. Both sides agreed to remain closely engaged on the topic,” a joint statement released after the bilateral meeting stated.

– External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar welcomed foreign delegates at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting earlier today. Jaishankar welcomed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and others at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

– S Jaishankar on Wednesday evening hosted a welcome dinner for the foreign ministers attending the deliberations but the reception was missed by his counterparts from the US, China, Germany and France.

– US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who arrived in New Delhi late on Wednesday night, missed the inaugural dinner of the G20 foreign ministers hosted by S Jaishankar on Wednesday.

– Blinken is also expected to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and PM Narendra Modi later in the evening.

– US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chinese foreign Qin Gang, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and France’s Catherine Colonna had not landed in Delhi when the reception began at around 7 pm at a luxury hotel in Delhi.

– Russia has alleged that the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Bengaluru ended without a joint communique because of the “confrontational” approach towards Moscow by the “collective West” over the situation in Ukraine.

– During the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Jaishankar will be chairing two sessions. The first session will focus on three principal subitems- multilateralism, food and energy security issue and development cooperation. The second session will focus on new and emerging threats including that of terrorism.

– Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Wednesday chose not to “prejudge” any outcome on it but noted that the Russia-Ukraine conflict will clearly be an important point of the deliberations.

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