After 200 hours of negotiations, 300 meetings and 15 drafts, G20 members finally reached a consensus statement on the Ukraine conflict.
On the night of September 8, right before the G9 summit opened in New Delhi, India, the delegation of members of the group of the world's richest economies still could not reach a consensus on how to address the Ukraine issue. in the joint statement.
In the draft joint statement, the section mentioning "geopolitical situation" remains blank. European countries want to use strong language to condemn Russia's campaign in Ukraine, but Russia and China oppose any mention of hostilities. The Chinese delegation also opposed the mention of the US holding the G20 presidency in 2026, but was unsuccessful.
The G20 now faces a difficult choice: accept a joint statement with mild language on the Ukraine conflict, or no joint statement at all. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov previously announced that Moscow would block the G20 joint statement if it did not include Russia's position on the Ukraine conflict.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) with G20 leaders in New Delhi on September 10. Image: AFP
Four diplomats participating in the discussions described the process of reaching the joint statement as difficult. Negotiations between the countries' delegations took place for more than 200 hours, with 15 draft joint statements drafted.
Debate over the Ukraine issue is considered the most complicated part of the discussion process. Russian and Chinese officials continuously sought to remove harsh language related to the campaign in Ukraine from the document. Some draft joint statements do not even contain any language about this conflict.
Representatives of a number of developing countries in the G20, who support maintaining relations with Moscow, also expressed disagreement about using strong words to criticize Russia, causing negotiations to drag on.
In the days before the G20 summit, the proposed draft joint statements did not contain the same language as the statement in Bali, Indonesia last year.
At the summit in Bali, the G20 reached a last-minute joint statement after much controversy, in which the majority of member countries condemned Russia's war in Ukraine and demanded that Moscow withdraw its troops unconditionally.
Just before midnight on September 8, diplomats said that compromise was the only option, if they did not want the first G9 summit in history to end without a joint statement.
“This is not a statement drafted by the G7 or NATO. This is a completely different story and the expectations are also different,” said a European official involved in the discussions.
Even French President Emmanuel Macron seems to admit this. “Let us face the fact that the G20 is not a forum for political discussions,” he said in New Delhi, suggesting the group's summit is more suited to economic talks. and climate change.
On the morning of September 9, as time gradually ran out, Indian officials presented a draft joint statement that added a section on the war in Ukraine with softer language. The leaders approved the document, hoping to avoid public rifts within the G9, because that could weaken the group's reputation and cause Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this year's G20 host, to "lose face".
The joint statement of the G20 leaders reaffirmed concerns about the war in Ukraine, but did not directly criticize Russia. Instead, this document calls on "all countries to behave in accordance with the purposes and principles of the full text of the United Nations Charter", opposing "the threat or use of force to gain territory, violate territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence of other countries".
The joint statement acknowledged that the Ukraine issue still has "different views and assessments" among G20 members, but agreed that the contemporary era cannot accept war.
The White House hailed the joint statement as “important” and “unprecedented.” They point out that even without explicitly mentioning the Russian campaign, the joint statement persuaded neutral countries such as Brazil and South Africa to agree to maintain their territorial integrity and prevent attacks on their facilities. Infrastructure.
Host India hailed the agreement as a diplomatic victory achieved 24 hours before the summit ended. “Bali is Bali. New Delhi is New Delhi. Bali was a year ago. The situation is different. Many things have happened since then,” said Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.
G20 leaders at the meeting on September 10 in New Delhi. Image: AFP
Behind the scenes, officials also noted the importance of this year's G20 in elevating Modi to a global statesman. If the summit ends without a joint statement, it will be a big disappointment, because this is unprecedented in the past 15 years.
The United States and Europe have sought to strengthen Modi's position on the international stage in an effort to strengthen ties with India. This is considered a motivation for them to accept "softening" the language in the joint statement in a direction that does not criticize Russia.
“We were able to block Western attempts to Ukrainianize the summit agenda. The joint statement does not mention Russia at all," Foreign Minister Lavrov said, declaring the G20 conference a success.
Thanh Tam (Follow CNN, Guardian, WSJ)
