The first day of the September 9/10, 2023, G20 summit in New Delhi, India, caused mixed reactions across the world. Nonetheless, countries were able to agree on a joint declaration outlining economic and climate goals but did not specifically condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This comes as no surprise even though the leaders of Russia and China, key countries in the G20 group, opted not attend the summit in person but instead sent representatives. CNN wrote that in order for any consensus statement, Russia and China had to agree to the proposed language; therefore, any strong language stayed out of the final language of the declaration.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko wrote on his Facebook account that Ukraine is grateful “to the partners who tried to include strong wording in the text. However, he noted, “in terms of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, [the] G20 has nothing to be proud of.”
The Financial Times cited one senior Western official as saying that omitting the western criticism of Russia in the final declaration allowed for more compromise on the important issue of the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in New Delhi a day ahead of the summit and met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During the meeting, both Biden and Modi reiterated their commitment to reforming the U.N. Security Council. Additionally, the U.S. reaffirmed its support for India as a Permanent Member of the U.N. Security Council.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was not invited to address the summit, however the U.S. delegation assured that Ukraine would be kept on the agenda. In fact, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Janet Yellen who attended the gathering, stressed the importance of continued support for Ukraine. Reuters reported that Yellen said it is “critical that we continue to provide timely economic assistance [to Ukraine].” She also noted that despite the tensions that the war has created, she still believes in the effectiveness of the G20.
As the world is waiting for the final outcomes of the summit, which ends on Sunday, September 10, Bloomberg reported that China is already objecting to the U.S. hosting the G20 in 2026, which was earlier announced by President Biden.
