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A draft Group of 20 (G20) declaration said that “most members strongly condemned” the war in Ukraine, according to news agencies, as Russia criticized the move as politicization.
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The 16-page draft document, seen by news agencies, has not yet been adopted by members at the G20 summit, which began on the Indonesian island of Bali on Tuesday.
It is the first G20 leaders’ meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine in February and observers are waiting to see what the final communique, to be adopted by leaders on Wednesday, will say about the invasion.
“Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy,” said the draft, according to Reuters.
But the draft also said there were “other views and different assessments” of the situation. Bloomberg points to the specific wording that refers to the “war in Ukraine,” not “Russia’s war in Ukraine,” saying that “represents a compromise” designed to get more leaders to sign off on the declaration.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not at the two-day summit — made up of 19 countries plus the European Union — but has sent Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in his place.
Lavrov said the attempt to condemn Russia by Western nations was politicization, and that Russia had put forward an alternative view for the final communique, reported Reuters.
Earlier Tuesday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a video speech, urged “G19” leaders to end Moscow’s invasion, deliberately excluding Russia.
