Exactly a year after invading Ukraine, Putin’s war is dividing the G20, with China siding with Russia and not signing condemnation of the conflict. Forcing India, the host of the Bangalore Summit, to settle for “Presidential conclusions” instead of seeing the traditional final communiqué signed by everyone. At the end of the summit comes Moscow’s thrust, accusing the West of “destabilizing” the summit by trying to “blackmail” a joint statement on Ukraine. “We regret – according to the Russian Foreign Ministry – that the activities of the G20 continue to be destabilized by the West and used in an anti-Russian and purely confrontational way.”
Finally, register a Resignation from the G20 summit in Bali in November when the Indonesian Presidency – with a more conciliatory China – managed to finalize a joint statement. India — which is even debating whether to include the word “war” instead of “special military operation” so as not to irritate Moscow — has failed. “Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine,” is the half-full glass the Chair’s Summary and Outcome Document seeks to emphasize. However, “other points of view and assessments” (from Beijing and Moscow) prevented the G20 finance ministers and central bankers from issuing a joint statement. New Delhi is forced to footnote the non-signature by the two powers of two paragraphs of the document, which also submit a scaled language.
“Since February 2022, we have been seeing how the war in Ukraine is having a negative impact on the global economy,” is the mild warning given the slump in global growth and the immediate risks, such as the surge in inflation and the protectionist tensions that war has triggered as a result. “It is imperative to support international law and the multilateral system” to ensure the protection of civilians and infrastructure in armed conflicts. Stronger words on the “unacceptable” use of nuclear weapons. But we are far from what the West wants. France had threatened not to sign anything without a clear condemnation of the war, Italy and Spain urged not to “call into question” what was approved in Bali, saying it would have been an “unacceptable withdrawal”, according to Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti . Christian Lindner, German Finance Minister, points the finger at the “deplorable change in China’s attitude”. Not to mention the US, whose Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen yesterday railed against Russian officials as “accomplices in Putin’s atrocities.”
A rift that is undermining the effectiveness of sanctions, just two days after the G7 resumed aid to Kiev and reiterated its firmness with Moscow, with India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Siharam today reaffirming interest in importing Russian oil. And it jeopardizes cooperation in a forum like the G20, which has spent twenty years building between ups and downs economic and financial cooperation between emerging and advanced economies, which together account for almost 90% of global GDP. “The upheavals surrounding Ukraine and, above all, the climate challenge, aggravate and reinforce the divergences. Energy security and food insecurity split the world in two,” summarizes Giorgetti, while Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco is still dealing with the situation in Europe persistent inflation : We cannot say to what level we will raise ECB interest rates. If we have to be more restrictive, we will be more restrictive.” The US leadership is taking a step forward, even as everyone has a responsibility to coordinate. The Indian presidency saved the consensus to push ahead with restructuring poor countries’ debt, overcoming resistance from Beijing, which is increasingly a creditor, and where the IMF is also opening up and giving the task of structuring effective regulation to the Financial Stability Board Bank for International Settlements and IMF ce of crypto assets.
Read the full article on ANSA.it