The leaders of the G20 began their summit in Bali on Tuesday, Indonesiawith perspectives of closing a joint declaration, in which the majority of its members will condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The day ended with an official dinner sponsored by the president of the host country, Joko Widodo.
The Ukraine issue captured most of the discussion both in the multilateral forum and in bilateral meetings during the first day of the meeting of the twenty main world powers, according to a dispatch from efe.
Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, received the heads of government/representatives, as well as the heads of international organization for the G20 Summit Bali on 15-16 November 2022.#G20Indonesia #RecoverTogetherRecoverStronger #G20BaliSummit pic.twitter.com/egNnqJMISn
— G20 Indonesia (@g20org) November 15, 2022
Despite the different positions between the blocs formed mainly by the United States and the European Union, on the one hand; and Moscow and Beijing, on the other, the G20 managed to channel an agreement with which to “save” the appointment, according to this source, which adds how it was possible to reduce the climate of hostility that preceded the meeting.
The draft of the text agreed upon by the delegations includes a mention of the “Ukrainian war”, contrary to what was expected due to Moscow’s firm opposition to referring in this way to the war that began against the neighboring country. The document highlights the “immense human suffering” and the problems that it entails on a global scale in terms of energy supply, food security or risks for financial instability, although it also echoes the different positions in this regard among the 20 countries.
No G20 ministerial meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year has produced a consensus document.
Indonesia, host of the event, is “optimistic” that the final declaration will be achieved, as its Information Minister, Johny G.Plate, assured the Spanish agency today, who hopes that “there will be a good result” at the end of the meetings on Wednesday. The host country has taken its role as an opportunity to mediate between the G20 countries, an almost personal effort by President Widodo, who traveled to Moscow and kyiv in June to meet with their respective leaders.
Although neither Vladimir Putin nor Volodímir Zelensky -who spoke today by videoconference- traveled to Bali as Jokowi wanted, the fact that for now there has been a fluid dynamic and that a joint declaration can be signed constitutes a success for Indonesia. Zelenski, in a telematic intervention in which he referred to the group on several occasions as the “G19” -excluding Russia-, affirmed that his troops “will not allow Russia to take a breather”. Lavrov responded by calling his proposals “unreal and inadequate” and accused kyiv of blocking any such option.
The first day of the summit was also marked by a frenetic activity of bilateral meetings, especially by the president of Chinawho after almost three years without leaving his country due to the pandemic, became the most coveted leader in Bali.
Xi started the day by meeting his French counterpartEmmanuel Macron and, after several group sessions, more appointments awaited him: with the leaders of ArgentinaAlberto Fernández, with the Italian, Georgia Meloni; the Australian, Anthony Albanese; the Senegalese, Macky Sall; the South AfricanCyril Ramaphosa and the South KoreanYoon Suk-yeol.
Among the news of the day, it stood out that the president of the United States, Joe Biden, decided to be absent from the official dinner. The 79-year-old Biden’s absence is not because of COVID-19, but because he has had a “long day,” a US official explained.
With information from Efe.
