Russia on the joint declaration: “Thanks to the Global South West, Ukraine could not ‘Ukrainise’ the G20 summit agenda”

Sunday’s G20 summit in New Delhi was not overshadowed by the Ukraine crisis, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who also criticized the West for not having an intellectual conversation about the country. Lavrov praised India’s president for bringing the G20 members together for the first time in history while speaking at a news conference in Delhi after the end of the G20 India Summit 2023.

“I would want to draw attention to the active role played by the Indian president, which is likely the first time in the history of the G-20 to have successfully united its members. I’m referring to the G-20 nations from the Global South, including our BRICS allies Brazil, India, China, and South Africa.

The West is unable to Ukrainize the topic to the detriment of the debate of the challenges confronting developing nations, the Russian foreign minister stated, thanks to the united stances adopted by the countries of the global south to maintain and safeguard their legitimate interests.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that there was agreement on the G20 New Delhi Leader’s Declaration, including the geopolitical problem of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. War and other violent conflicts in the Ukraine and other regions of the globe are condemned in the joint statement that the G20 New Delhi Summit approved. However, it avoided blaming Russia specifically for invading Ukraine.

All governments “must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity, sovereignty, or political independence of any state” while preserving the UN charter, the statement said without specifically mentioning Russia.

Ukraine’s response to the New Delhi Leader’s Declaration from the G20

Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, responded to the New Delhi Leader’s proclamation by saying it was “nothing to be proud of” and that the nation was unsatisfied with the broader joint proclamation since it did not specifically blame Russia for the conflict.

Nikolenko said on social media that “it is obvious that the participation of the Ukrainian side (at the G20 meeting) would have allowed the participants to better understand the situation.”

Nikolenko, however, complimented partner nations for attempting to add direct language in the proclamation wording.

“Ukraine is grateful to the partners who tried to include strong formulations in the text,” he said.