Dhe Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov left the G-20 foreign ministers’ conference early after giving a short statement to the group about his version of the war in Ukraine and its global consequences. Lavrov was greeted in the morning by the hostess, the Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, without cordiality in the foyer of the conference hotel in Bali. According to Russian sources, he met with his Chinese colleague Wang Yi and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for bilateral talks before the start of the conference.
This year, Indonesia is chairing the G20, which brings together the most important industrialized and emerging countries. Indonesian President Joko Widodo tried to end the Russian attack by visiting Kyiv and Moscow last week. At the start of the G-20 conference on Friday, his foreign minister said it was “all of our responsibility to end the war sooner rather than later”. The disputes must be settled at the negotiating table, “not on the battlefield”. The war in Ukraine has global repercussions, hitting the emerging and poorest countries hardest.
Lavrov escaped Baerbock
Marsudi made a plea for global cooperation in the spirit of multilateralism and opposed a world in which only the big and powerful countries would call the shots. While their criticism of Russia remained general in this way, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken turned directly to his Russian counterpart and accused Moscow of simultaneously undertaking an attack on the international order by launching the offensive in Ukraine.
Lavrov, sitting in the room between the representatives of Saudi Arabia and Mexico, responded with counter-reproaches to the West. He denied that Russia’s war in Ukraine was causing the global wheat shortage and spoke of an artificial food shortage. Lavrov then left the room. In this way, he avoided a reply to his statements by the German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, who followed him on the list of speakers.
Lavrov’s spokeswoman stated that he would not take part in the further course of the conference, but that he would still have individual discussions with other participants. After his departure, Lavrov said on the sidelines of the summit that Russia was ready to negotiate grain exports with Ukraine. However, they would first have to clear their ports or ensure safe passage through minefields. Russia and Turkey could then ensure that the cargo ships continue their journey on the Black Sea.
G-20 ministers met for lunch after their first working session devoted to multilateralism, and in the afternoon for a second session devoted to energy and food security.