Confrontation at G20 meeting
Baerbock to Lavrov: “You have to end this war now”
February 22, 2024, 6:40 a.m
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At the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Rio, Russia’s representative Lavrov sits just three seats away from his German colleague Baerbock. She takes advantage of the opportunity and sends clear words to Lavrov. She appealed to the other participants to take Russian aggression against Ukraine seriously.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock addressed her Russian colleague Sergei Lavrov directly at the meeting of the G20 foreign ministers of the leading economic powers and called for an end to the war in Ukraine. “If you care about human lives, if you care about your own people, Russian children and young people, you must end this war now,” said the Green politician in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, directly addressing Lavrov, who was sitting in three seats sat to her left. “If Russia ended this war now, the path to peace and justice tomorrow would be wide open,” she added.
In the G20 round, Lavrov sat to the right of his Saudi Arabian colleague Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud and to the left of Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena Ibarra. The Italian representative sat next to the Mexican, then came Baerbock. Addressing the other members of the group, Baerbock appealed: “If we want to build a ‘just world’, we have to tackle wars and crises together. Resolutely, respectfully and with a willingness to self-reflect.”
She respects the different perspectives on the war in Ukraine. A country 10,000 kilometers away from Kiev perceives a different security threat than a country in Europe. But “Russia’s aggression is more than a regional conflict,” warned Baerbock. Russia’s war of aggression “calls on all of us to resolutely defend the fundamental principles that protect us all: the United Nations Charter, international law and human rights. These principles protect all nations, no matter how large or small.”
G20 discusses reform of international institutions
In addition to Germany, France and the USA, the G20 group also includes Russia and China, among others. The G20 represents around 80 percent of the world’s economic power and 60 percent of the world’s population. Brazil currently holds the presidency.
Against the background of widespread criticism of Israel’s military action against the Islamist Hamas and the humanitarian suffering of the civilian population in Gaza, Baerbock called for a humanitarian break so that we can work towards a sustainable ceasefire. “This conflict has caused great emotions in many of our countries,” said the minister. She urged her listeners to see the pain on both sides and to recognize “that humanity is indivisible.” Therefore, a solution is needed that enables Palestinians and Israelis to live side by side in peace and security – in two states.
This Thursday, the G20 foreign ministers want to discuss reform of international institutions in view of the blockade of the UN Security Council. Baerbock said that the modernization of financial institutions was at the top of the G20’s agenda. The countries most affected by the climate crisis paid the highest interest rates. “This is deeply unfair, and it is also more than counterproductive in terms of economic policy,” criticized Baerbock.
Baerbock continues to travel to the UN
Two years after the Russian attack on Ukraine, the UN Security Council is also frequently blocked in its decisions because Moscow is standing in the way. A restructuring of the international system is one of the declared goals of the Brazilian G20 presidency. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recently criticized the UN Security Council as untrustworthy and accused international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank of becoming too heavily involved in the internal affairs of creditor countries to interfere.
The Federal Foreign Minister wants to travel on from Rio to New York on Thursday afternoon. Several events are planned there on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24th, in which Baerbock wants to take part. She wants to speak at meetings of the General Assembly and the Security Council. A conversation with UN Secretary-General António Guterres is also planned.
There will also be an exchange of views with the former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. Colonna leads an independent group of experts investigating allegations against employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Some employees of the aid organization are accused of being involved in the terrorist acts carried out by the Islamist Hamas on October 7th in Israel. Several Western countries have temporarily suspended payments to UNRWA because of the allegations, including the two largest donors, the USA and Germany.