July 6 (Reuters) – G20 foreign ministers travel to the tourist island of Bali this week for a meeting that will be overshadowed by the Ukrainian war, with Russia’s assistance creating fractures in the bloc while the host Indonesia tries to mediate.
The Group of 20 includes Western countries that have accused Moscow of war crimes in Ukraine and imposed sanctions, but also countries such as China, Indonesia, India and South Africa that have not done the same.
The meeting will be the first time that foreign ministers of some of the world’s major economies have met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
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Speaking ahead of the G-20 meeting on Thursday to Friday, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner said it would not be a “normal summit” or “business as usual”.
Germany holds the presidency of the Group of Seven Industrialized Nations and will coordinate in Bali on how to respond to Lavrov in light of the war in Ukraine, he said.
Senior officials from the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States left Russian representatives during a G20 financial meeting in Washington in April. Read more
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken would take an active part in the meeting, while “it would also remain faithful to another overarching goal, and that is the fact that it cannot be done as usual with the Russian Federation.” said a U.S. State Department spokesman. .
Blinken will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Bali, but no meeting with Lavrov is expected. Read more
As president of the G20 this year, Indonesia has been caught in the middle of a geopolitical storm by the war, trying to avoid threats from Western countries to boycott the meetings. Following the meeting of foreign ministers, G20 finance ministers are scheduled to meet next week, also in Bali.
Trying to take advantage of Indonesia’s neutrality, President Joko Widodo embarked on an ambitious peace negotiation mission last week, visiting Kyiv and Moscow to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin .
The president, known as Jokowi, has invited Ukraine to the G20 this year, tried to convince Russia to end a blockade on grain exports that is driving a global food crisis, and has offered Indonesia as a “diplomatic bridge” between nations. .
Ukraine’s ambassador to Indonesia, Vasyl Hamianin, said his country’s foreign minister would give a virtual speech at the Bali meeting.
PLAN THINKING G20 MEETINGS
Although there was talk of abandoning some G20 meetings, Western leaders finally decided that giving the floor to Russia would be counterproductive, said Max Bergmann, an expert on Russia and Europe and a senior senior State Department official. United States.
“If you don’t introduce yourself, and then the Russians have the floor with some really critical countries like Indonesia, India and others, then they are presenting their arguments without opposition,” said Bergmann, who is now at the Center for Strategies. Washington. and International Studies.
Ramin Toloui, the U.S. undersecretary of state for economic and business affairs, said Tuesday that food and energy would have a prominent place at the meeting. Read more
“G20 countries should demand accountability from Russia and insist that it support the UN’s ongoing efforts to reopen sea lanes for grain delivery,” he said.
During a trip to Vietnam on Wednesday, Russian Lavrov called on all parts of the world to make efforts to protect international law, as “the world is evolving in a complicated way.”
His comments before his arrival in Bali come when Russia has been accused by Western countries of violating international law with its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special operation”.
Lavrov’s reaction in Bali could also provide an indication of how G20 members might respond if Putin attends the November group summit meeting in person, which has not yet been confirmed.
Indonesia’s president, until recently not very active in foreign policy matters, has come to see his handling of the group’s presidency as a turning point in his presidency, said Murray Hiebert, a Southeastern expert. Asian at CSIS.
“Jokowi is desperately hoping to avoid a diplomatic train accident if Putin shows up in November,” he said.
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Report by Alexander Ratz in Berlin, David Brunnstrom in Washington and Kate Lamb in Sydney; Editing by Ed Davies and Raju Gopalakrishnan
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