The G20 states want to condemn the war of aggression against Ukraine in their statement – albeit with one caveat. So not all members turn against Russia. Chancellor Scholz admits “that other views also exist”.
At the G20 summit, Chancellor Olaf Scholz left open how many members of the group of states condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The SPD politician admitted to journalists in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, that “of course there are other views here, but they haven’t been counted.” This indicates that in the G20 group other countries besides Russia do not want to condemn the war any longer.
Scholz was nevertheless satisfied with the results of the summit so far. He hopes that the G20 countries, in addition to condemning aggressive war, will also declare that the use of nuclear weapons is out of the question. This is “a consensus that is gradually gaining ground” and, from his point of view, a great step forward that could not have been expected at the beginning of the war. A unified stance on a warning against Russian use of nuclear bombs would be an important “stop” for Moscow, the SPD politician said.
The draft of the final declaration agreed by the negotiators of the 19 countries of the G20 and the EU on Tuesday morning reads: “Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed that it causes immense human suffering. ” What “most” means exactly is left open. Reference is made to a UN resolution from early March condemning the war. At that time, 141 of the 193 UN members had agreed. 40 countries were against or abstained and thus expressly did not condemn the war. In addition to Russia, these included three other G20 countries: China, India and South Africa.
Scholz also referred to the vote. But he said there was “a certain ambiguity” among the countries that abstained. Despite their vote, many are “innerly convinced that this is an unjust war”.
Because the final declaration also emphasizes that not all countries share the condemnation of aggressive war, Russia wants to support the final declaration. “Our Western colleagues have tried in every possible way to politicize this statement,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, according to the TASS news agency. “And they tried to smuggle in language that would imply condemnation of the actions of the Russian Federation on behalf of the entire G20, including ourselves.” The draft now contains both the Western and the Russian perspective on the war in Ukraine, Lavrov continued.
He also reported that he had met briefly with Chancellor Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron. According to the Russian foreign minister, Macron is ready for renewed contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Scholz rejected Lavrov’s statement that he had had a conversation with him. “He stood near me and also said two sentences. That was the conversation,” he said.
