It seemed doomed to failure, but, against all odds, the G20 managed to agree this Saturday on a joint final declaration in the early hours of the summit. The agreement, yes, was reached after softening his sentence to Russia for having started a war against Ukraine in which almost half a million people have died. This Sunday, the India, the host country, has closed the meeting satisfied with the consensus. But, beyond the semantic balances, the 20 most important economies in the world remain divided over the conflict that is bleeding in the east of Europe.
Proof of this is the clash of different interpretations that have been made of the declaration. The Russian president, Vladimir Putinhas not attended the meeting, but through his Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has described the agreement reached as an “unconditional success.” “Thanks to these positions adopted by the countries of the global south to defend and protect its legitimate interests, the West has not been able to ‘Ukrainize’ the agenda to the detriment of the discussion of the tasks facing developing countries,” celebrated the head of Russian diplomacy.
Of 37 pages and 83 paragraphs, the agreed document does not explicitly condemn the Kremlin by invasion of its neighbour, but limits itself to stressing that States must “refrain from acting against the territorial integrity and the sovereignty or political independence” of third parties and to classify as “inadmissible” the threat of the use of nuclear weapons reiterated by Moscow.
At last year’s summit, G20 members did point fingers at Putin and demand the withdrawal of the russian troops of Ukraine, a request that has now vanished. The indignation of Kyiv It didn’t take long to arrive. “The G20 has nothing to be proud of,” lamented the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Oleg Nikolenkoin a message published on the networks.
More economics than politics
Western countries, with USA in the lead, have come out to justify a juggling reformulation that “does a very good job of defending the principle” of not assault picked up by United Nationsas considered Jake SullivanNational Security Adviser to the President of the United States, Joe Biden.
Like Washington, Europe has also denied that the summit was a victory for the Kremlin. “This G20 confirms once again the isolation of Russia”, has sentenced the French president, Emmanuel Macron. “Today, an overwhelming majority of members condemn the war in Ukraine and its impact.” As the group already pointed out yesterday, Paris has also stressed that the summit held in New Delhi was not the place to make diplomatic progress on the conflict, prioritizing the resolution of more economic than political issues.
Geopolitical change
It is customary for the host country to set the course for the final joint declaration. On this occasion, India has managed to ensure that the agreement includes improvements for countries in the global south in which it seeks to gain influence. Thus, it has been agreed to increase financing for the development of the poorest nations, review the role of institutions that promote this aid such as the world Bank and invite the African Union -composed of 55 States of the continent- to be a permanent member of the G20, as the European Union (EU).
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This edition of the Group of Twenty has once again evidenced a global dashboard increasingly complex for the West in which the diplomacy and the multilateralism they are an essential factor in dealing with the growing role of emerging countries. It is no coincidence that a little over two weeks ago the group BRICS –Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa– held a summit in which they invited Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran to join the bloc forged as an alternative to the G7.
If the absence of Putin and the Chinese president, Xi Jinpingsuggested a possible failure of the summit, the doubts have been dispelled with the leadership of the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, which comes out reinforced. In the closing ceremony this Sunday, the host handed over the presidency of the club to Brazilwhich will be the headquarters in 2024. Its president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has confirmed that the next edition will prioritize the energy transition, social inclusion and sustainable development. “We are not interested in a divided G20,” she remarked.