G20 finance ministers meet in India. SAMUEL RAJKUMAR / REUTERS
G20 finance ministers struggled Saturday to agree on a joint statement after a meeting in India, due to differences with China over the war in Ukraine. “The discussions are more difficult than in previous meetings (of the G20 Finance) because the war continues“Said Spanish Finance Minister Nadia Calviño on Saturday. As a result, “some positions may be less constructive on some issues“, underlined the minister, without specifying which country (s) she was referring to.
China wants to tone down language used about Ukraine in the G20 Finance joint statement, several officials familiar with the discussions said. In this context, a joint statement is unlikely to see the light of day, said some officials on condition of anonymity. According to one of them,China does not want to condemn the war” in Ukraine. Discussions to agree on a term lasted until 2 a.m., another official said.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: China calls for “peace”, closing ranks with Russia
Last year during the three previous meetings of the G20 Finance, under the Indonesian presidency, no joint press release could be drafted.
China has never publicly endorsed or criticized the offensive, but has repeatedly expressed support for Moscow in the face of Western sanctions.
For its part, India, which chairs the G20 and has long-standing ties with Russia, did not condemn Moscow’s military intervention. Germany and France pleaded on Friday for the inscription of the term “warin the final communiqué of the G20 Finances. In Ukraine, “it is a war. And this war has one cause, only one cause, and that is Russia and (Russian President) Vladimir Putin“, had underlined the German Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner. The French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire had supported the words of his German counterpart.
“We will oppose any backsliding in the joint statement on the statement made in Bali on the war in Ukraine“, he said, during a press conference in English.
In November, the heads of state and leaders of the G20 countries met for a summit in Bali, Indonesia. Their final statement stated that “most members strongly condemned the war“.
TO HAVE ALSO – War in Ukraine: “The fact that China is engaging in peace efforts is absolutely good”, according to Emmanuel Macron