G20 delivered a rebuke to Russia

Most members were of the view that the war in Ukraine was causing immense human suffering.

- K. NATWAR SINGH

Leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations (G20) met in the Indonesian island of Bali on 15th and 16th of this month. The President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, presided over the summit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend the conference. Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He left Bali before the conclusion of the summit.

The leaders of 19 countries adopted a declaration deploring Russia’s aggression in Ukraine in the strongest terms and demanded its unconditional withdrawal. They also recognized that while most members condemned the war in Ukraine, there were other views and different assessments of the situations and on the severe sanctions imposed on Russia by some countries.

Most members were of the view that the war in Ukraine was causing immense human suffering and, “exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy—constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity and elevating financial stability risks.”

The leaders also denounced any threat on the use of nuclear weapons. This was quite clearly a rebuke to Russia.