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- G20 negotiators agree on wording on Russia’s war against Ukraine – source
- A compromise formulation would still require leadership approval
- Indian Prime Minister Modi says the world is facing a major crisis of confidence
NEW DELHI, Sept 9 (Portal) – Delegates from the world’s most powerful countries have reached a compromise on language to describe the war in Ukraine, a source familiar with the discussions said, as their leaders met in New Delhi on Saturday – Delhi the annual G20 summit began in Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of host India opened the meeting by calling on members to end a “global trust deficit” and announced the bloc would grant permanent membership to the African Union to make it more representative.
“Today, as President of the G20, India calls on the entire world to first transform this global trust deficit into one trust and one trust,” he said. “It’s time for all of us to act together.”
The group is deeply divided over the war in Ukraine. Western nations are pushing for strong condemnation of Russia, while others are calling for a focus on broader economic issues.
The Sherpas, or country representatives, reached a compromise on the language to be used in the final communiqué presented to leaders, the source familiar with the negotiations said.
Details were not immediately available, but it could be similar language to Indonesia’s communiqué issued at the 2022 summit, which said that while most nations condemned Russia for the invasion, there were also differing views.
Earlier in the day, US President Joe Biden and other Group of 20 leaders were driven through deserted streets to a new $300 million shell-shaped convention center called the Bharat Mandapam, which for the two faces a 16th-century stone fortress lies -day peak.
Many businesses, shops, offices and schools were closed in the city of 20 million people and traffic was restricted as part of security measures to ensure the smooth running of the country’s most important meeting. Slums were demolished and monkeys and stray dogs were removed from the streets.
According to an earlier draft of the summit statement reviewed by Portal, negotiators were unable to resolve their differences over language on the war in Ukraine, leaving leaders to reach a compromise if possible.
The 38-page draft distributed among members left the “geopolitical situation” paragraph blank, while 75 additional paragraphs were agreed on a range of topics.
Biden will demand a higher level of climate action from major countries at the summit, a White House official said, as concerns grow about a lack of consensus on cutting emissions.
The G20 nations are responsible for 80% of global emissions and their views will be closely monitored ahead of the COP 28 meeting in the United Arab Emirates.
In his opening speech at the summit, Modi invited the AU, represented by Chairman Azali Assoumani, to sit at the G20 leaders’ table as a permanent member.
The summit is expected to be dominated by the West and its allies. Chinese President Xi Jinping is skipping the meeting and sending Prime Minister Li Qiang instead, while Russia’s Vladimir Putin will also be absent.
Among those taking part are Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Bin Salman and Japan’s Fumio Kishida.
The summit was seen as a venue for a possible meeting between Xi and Biden after months of the two world powers trying to repair relations strained by trade and geopolitical tensions.
“It is up to the Chinese government to explain why its leader would or would not participate,” Jon Finer, the U.S. deputy national security adviser, told reporters in Delhi.
He said there was speculation that China was “abandoning the G20” and turning to groupings such as the BRICS, where it is dominant.
The BRICS countries include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The BRICS countries have agreed to admit another six new members – Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates – to accelerate their efforts to reshape the world order as it is seen as outdated.
FIGHT FOR LANGUAGE
G20 Sherpas, or country negotiators, had difficulty agreeing on the wording because of disagreements over the Ukraine war and hoped to enlist Russia to draft the so-called leaders’ statement.
Russia is represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who has said he will block the final declaration unless it reflects Moscow’s position on Ukraine and other crises.
A source told Portal that a joint statement may or may not lead to a unanimous agreement. It could contain different paragraphs presenting the views of different countries. Or it could record agreement and disagreement in one paragraph.
According to another senior source in one of the G20 countries, the paragraph on the war against Ukraine was agreed upon by Western countries and forwarded to Russia for comment.
The official said Russia has the opportunity to accept the views of Western countries and express its disagreement within the framework of the statement.
Failure to reach an agreement would require India to issue a presidency statement, meaning the G20 would not issue a statement for the first time in 20 years of summits.
A leaders’ statement “is by far the best way to record what has been agreed, so that countries can be held accountable by external parties in the future, and so that government systems know what their leaders have signed and what they have signed.” need to do internally,” said Creon Butler, director for the global economic and finance program at London’s Chatham House.
Differing views on the war have so far prevented India from agreeing on a single communiqué at ministerial meetings during the G20 presidency this year.
Additional reporting by Manoj Kumar, Katya Golubkova and Krishn Kaushik; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Edited by Sanjeev Miglani, Jacqueline Wong and Kim Coghill
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