Paris – AFP
France expects a “difficult confrontation” with Russia at the meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of Twenty to be held on Thursday and Friday in Indonesia, in light of the conflict in Ukraine.
A French diplomatic source said Thursday that given the presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Bali, “we expect a rather difficult confrontation.” The source added: “Russia chose to participate at a time when it puts itself in the position of violating many of the basic principles of the Group of Twenty, which are cooperation and dialogue and addressing differences through peaceful means and not by force.”
The source explained that French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and her European counterparts “will be keen that things will not happen as if nothing happened during the discussions, and about how Russia will be treated in this group.”
The same source explained that the G-20 meeting will be an opportunity to “clarify the role of international sanctions, which is to make the cost of war on Russia intolerable, especially since it was imposed in response to the aggression that is the cause of the current accelerating unrest,” especially those related to the food crisis.
According to the source, no joint statement will be issued at the end of these meetings due to Russia’s participation. And it was not expected that a bilateral meeting between Kolona and Lavrov would be held, and it was not likely that there would be a photo of all the participants. In this context, the source indicated that France does not intend to practice the “empty chair policy”, that is, the policy of obstruction, or “preventing any international cooperation,” explaining that “this matter will lead to counterproductive results on our interests.”
The meeting represents a prelude to the summit of heads of state and government of the Group of Twenty to be held next November, in Indonesia, which invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend.
The G-20, a club of the world’s 20 largest economies, includes Western countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia – such as the European Union or the United States – as well as other countries that have rejected sanctions, such as China, India or South Africa.