Posted in: 08/07/2022 – 22:34
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Western countries of missing out on the opportunity to address global economic problems due to his “frenzied” criticism of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while his US counterpart Anthony Blinken said, “We tell our Russian colleagues that Ukraine is not your country. Its grain is not your grain. Why do you close the ports? You must allow out of the grain.” For her part, the Indonesian foreign minister, which is hosting the meeting, urged the group’s countries to find a solution to the war in Ukraine.
Indonesia, which is hosting a meeting G20The foreign ministers of the group’s countries, on Friday, to help end the war in Ukraine, while accusing Russian Foreign Minister The West missed a window of opportunity to address global economic issues because of its “frenetic” criticism of the conflict.
In statements following the end of the talks, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that the meeting in Bali was overshadowed by the atmosphere of war and its impact on food and energy security. She explained that these matters were discussed in almost all bilateral meetings.
Retno’s comments did not reveal whether any agreements were reached during the meeting.
At the beginning of the day’s activities, protesters chanted “When will you stop the war” and “Why don’t you stop the war”, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shook hands with his Indonesian counterpart upon his arrival.
Lavrov said the ministers of Western countries “got lost their way almost as soon as they took the floor and frantically criticized the Russian Federation regarding the situation in Ukraine”.
“Aggressors, invaders and occupiers…we heard a lot of these things today,” Lavrov told reporters following the first session of the talks, where he was seated between representatives of Mexico and Saudi Arabia.
Russia describes the war as a “special military operation” to weaken the Ukrainian army and eliminate people it describes as dangerous nationalists.
Ukraine and its Western backers say Russia is waging an unjustified war to seize territory.
heated debate
The Indonesian Foreign Minister opened the meeting by calling on the G-20 to “find a way forward” to face global challenges, and said that low-income countries would be most affected by the repercussions of the war, including high energy and food prices.
“It is our responsibility to end the war sooner rather than later, and to settle our differences at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield,” Retno said at the opening of the talks.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on the sidelines of the meeting that the challenges of rising food and energy costs were “significantly exacerbated by Russia’s aggression once morest Ukraine.”
A Western official said Blinken confronted Russia during the hearing over an export ban Ukrainian grain and stole it.
The official added that Blinken addressed his speech directly to Russia, saying, “We tell our Russian colleagues that Ukraine is not your country. Its grain is not your grain. Why are you closing the ports? You should let the grain out.”
The official explained that Lavrov was not in the room at the time.
Without elaborating, Retno said that Lavrov and Blinken had already discussed several issues while in the conference room.
Ukraine, the world’s fourth-largest grain exporter, is facing difficulties exporting goods due to the closure of many of its ports as war rages along its southern coast.
Lavrov later told reporters that Russia was ready to negotiate with Ukraine and Turkey over the grain, but it was not clear when such talks would take place.
starvation games
The event hosted a closed-door meeting of top diplomats from G20 nations including China, India, the United States, Brazil, Canada, Japan and South Africa, as well as bilateral talks that took place on the sidelines.
Serious assassination of the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe On meetings, Blinken described it as a “deeply disturbing” incident, and expressed shock at the death of a “leader of great vision”.
Ukraine’s foreign minister addressed the meeting online, accusing Russia of playing “starvation games” by blocking Ukraine’s ports on the Black Sea.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Indonesia said Lavrov left the room while giving his speech.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said earlier that Beijing opposes any action that would escalate the confrontation between the bloc’s countries and lead to a “new cold war.”
Reflecting the tensions that preceded the meeting, Retno said her G7 counterparts had told her they would not attend Thursday’s dinner due to Lavrov’s presence.
In her closing speech, Retno said that the decisions of the foreign ministers to attend the meeting were not easy in light of the heightened tension over the war, and that all participants were concerned regarding the rise in food and energy prices.
Retno said that some participants in the Group of Twenty demanded an end to the conflict through negotiations and diplomatic means. She added that it was crucial to get Russian fertilizers and Ukrainian grain back into the global supply chain.
The foreign ministers of China and Australia are due to meet on Friday for the first time in three years, in a sign of thaws in relations strained by allegations of foreign interference and retaliatory trade sanctions.
FRANCE 24/Archyde.com