This meeting is attended by all the leaders of the group, with the exception of the leaders of Brazil, Mexico and Russia, who sent their foreign ministers
The G20 leaders the annual summit in Bali began on Tuesdayone of the most tense matches of the group due to the differences over the Ukrainian warwith the expectation that, contrary to expectations, an agreed document will be achieved.
All group leaders, with exception of the leaders of Russia, Brazil and Mexico, who sent their foreign ministersparticipate from this Tuesday until Wednesday in sessions in which the Russian invasion of Ukraine is expected to attract much of the attention.
Despite the differences and the fact that the group has not been able to agree on any document since the invasion of Ukraine in lower-level meetings, the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, assured this Tuesday that the members of the G20 have finalized a draft joint declaration that goes “in the right direction” to condemn the invasion.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo opened the summit opening the first plenary on food securityin which he emphasized that “we must end the (Ukrainian) war. If the war does not end, it will be difficult for us to take responsibility for the future, for our future generations.”
“We must not transform the world into a new cold war”said Widodo, who has made a personal commitment this year, in which Indonesia occupies the presidency of the group, that the summit be a space for dialogue that includes all parties, also inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin, however, decided not to go and send the Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, in representation, which in principle it has facilitated conversations between group members even opening the possibility of signing an agreed document.
“The fact of having reached an agreement at the level of delegations is already a great achievement,” Michel told a press conference shortly before the G20 summit began.
If a joint declaration is agreed upon with a mention of the war in Ukraine, it would be the first from an international forum to do so in these terms since the start of the conflict, since Russia and partners such as China have normally refused to do so.
An achievement that is not yet clear but that is in line with the more conciliatory tone than expected in theThe meeting the day before between the Chinese and US presidents, Xi Jinping and Joe Bidenrespectively, the first with both as heads of state and which exceeded expectations in terms of their mutual willingness to improve the worsening relations.
Among other topics, the G20 leaders will participate this Tuesday and Wednesday in plenary sessions in which they will discuss food security, digital transformation and will also hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.
The G20 is made up of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Russia, South Korea, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. and the European Union, with Spain as a permanent guest.