The G20 countries have been at odds over the war in Ukraine since the invasion of Moscow last year, with Russian President Vladimir Putin completely absent from the summit to avoid political criticism.
Lately, G20 leaders, which include Russia and China, as well as some of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, have had trouble agreeing on many things, especially regarding the 18-month-old invasion.
Facing major diplomatic embarrassment, host India on Saturday pressed members to agree on a joint statement condemning the use of force for regional gain, but distanced itself from direct criticism from Russia.
Kiev said the G20 had “nothing to be proud of” but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who stood in for Putin at the meeting, declared a diplomatic victory on Sunday.
“We succeeded in thwarting the West’s attempt to Ukrainianize the summit agenda,” said a veteran diplomat, describing the two-day meeting as “successful”.
“The text does not mention Russia.”
Modi officially concluded the summit on Sunday, paying a ceremonial visit to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose country will assume the presidency of the group in December.
“We cannot allow geopolitical issues to separate the agenda of the G20 talks,” Lula said, clearly referring to the dispute over the war in Ukraine.
He added: “We are not interested in the division of the G20. We want peace and cooperation instead of conflict.
The compromise text on Ukraine involved “more than 200 hours of continuous negotiations, 300 bilateral meetings (and) 15 drafts,” Indian civil servant Amitabh Kant wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
But despite what the European Union’s climate monitor says is likely to be the hottest year in human history, leaders have failed to agree on a phase-out of fossil fuels, with a UN report the day before deeming a withdrawal “inevitable”. To achieve this. Net Zero Emissions.
Instead, he supported the goal of tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030, pledging to “phase out” coal only “according to national circumstances.”
Russia and Saudi Arabia, members of the G20, are major oil exporters, while coal consumption is increasing in China and India, already the world’s biggest consumers of the polluting fuel.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that the climate results were “insufficient” and added that the world “must get rid of coal much faster than today”.
“Group of Twenty Popular”
Portraying the summit as India reaching diplomatic maturity and seeking a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Modi celebrated the entry of the 55-member African Union into the G20.
As the G20, the group includes 19 countries and the European Union, representing 85% of global GDP, with South Africa being the only member state on the continent.
Modi sought to make New Delhi a voice for the Global South, and the move transformed the group into a “people’s G20”.
He also proposed another meeting of G20 leaders via video conference in November, leaving open the possibility of Putin joining – along with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who skipped the summit with the Asian giant due to differences over regional and other issues.
Lula said Putin would be free to attend next year’s event in Rio de Janeiro, even though Brazil is a signatory to the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader on war crimes charges.
“I am the president of Brazil and he will not be arrested if he comes to Brazil,” he told India’s First Post news network on Saturday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held direct talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday after ten years of conflict between the two countries.
Like Modi, many walked barefoot in the rain-soaked area – including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Macron – while others, including US President Joe Biden, chose to wear flip-flops.
After singing Hindu devotional songs, they observed a minute’s silence before laying wreaths at the marble plinth where the eternal flame stands in Gandhi’s memory.
