The finance ministers of the world’s largest economies failed to agree on a joint statement condemning Russia’s war on Ukraine on Saturday, February 25, which China and Russia refused to sign.
India, which holds the rotating presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20) economies, is chairing the meeting in the city of Bengaluru. It is reluctant to raise the issue of war, but Western countries insist they cannot support any outcome that does not include condemnation.
The lack of consensus among G20 members meant that India had to release a “Chairman’s Summary and Outcome Document” in which it simply summarized two days of talks and raised areas of disagreement.
It noted that “a majority of members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed that it was causing enormous human suffering and exacerbating existing vulnerabilities in the global economy,” including disruptions to supply chains, risks to financial stability, and persistent energy and food insecurity.
It also said there were “other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions,” referring to measures taken by the United States, European countries and others to punish Russia for its aggression and deprive it of revenue.
The outcome is similar to the G20 summit in Bali in November 2022, when host Indonesia also issued a final statement acknowledging differences. The G20 was formed more than 20 years ago in response to an economic crisis, but the group is now increasingly struggling to reach the consensus needed to issue an official closing communiqué.
India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said: “Although there is no issue of what we call a communiqué, but a statement of results, we still believe that we have made some progress in involving all ministers.”
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said China’s refusal to join the declaration was “regrettable”.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said earlier that any statement condemning Russia was “absolutely necessary.” Russia and China do not want the G20 platform to be used to discuss political issues, two delegates told Reuters.
Russia, a member of the G20 rather than the G7, has called its operation in Ukraine a “special military operation”, avoiding calling it an invasion or a war.
India has largely maintained a neutral stance, refusing to blame Russia for the invasion. It sought a diplomatic solution and significantly increased purchases of Russian oil.
China and India were among the countries that abstained on Thursday, when the United Nations overwhelmingly voted for Moscow to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and halt the fighting.
In addition to the G7 countries, the G20 group also includes countries such as Australia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia.
Japanese Finance Minister Shun Suzuki told reporters: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shaken the foundations of the global order, making constructive discussions at the G20 increasingly difficult.”
debt negotiation
On the sidelines, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the IMF had talks with the World Bank, China, India, Saudi Arabia and G7 countries on Saturday to discuss troubled economies. A meeting was held on debt restructuring, but there were also differences among members.
“We just finished a meeting where it was clear that there was a commitment to bridge differences for the benefit of countries,” Georgieva, who co-chaired the roundtable with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, told reporters. .”
A representative told Reuters there had been some initial progress, mostly discourse around the issue, but the restructuring was not discussed in detail.
Yellen said the meeting had no “deliverables” and was mostly organizational.
The plan will be discussed further during the IMF and World Bank meetings in April.
Pressure is mounting on China, the world’s largest bilateral creditor, and others to slash lending to struggling developing countries.
In a video address to the G20 meeting on Friday, Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun reiterated Beijing’s position that multilateral development banks such as the World Bank should also participate in debt relief through write-downs.
India’s push for stricter regulation of private cryptocurrency assets won broader support at the meeting.
Georgieva said policymakers “should not abandon” the option of an outright ban if regulation fails. Yellen does not support such a ban, but believes that a strong regulatory framework is essential.
