Angry Exchanges Over Russia's War In Ukraine Dominate G20 Talks In India

Differences between Russia and Western countries over the war in Ukraine prevented a consensus from emerging at the G20 meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of 20 countries in India.

Both sides blamed each other for the ongoing crisis, reported VOA.

India issued an outcome statement at the end of the meeting that was held on Thursday in New Delhi. It said that "most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine." They also stressed that the war is causing "immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy."

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's foreign minister, said that the meeting had been unable to firm up a joint declaration owing to "very polarized views" over the war in Ukraine that started last year.

Jaishankar said that on the issue, which very concerned with the Ukraine war, there were divergences and differences, which "we couldn't reconcile between various parties."

He added that they tried, but the "gap between the countries was too much."

According to BBC, the host wanted to discuss other issues that were affecting developing nations. But it said that the differences between the countries over the war in Ukraine "could not be reconciled."

The G20 includes the world's 19 wealthiest countries along with the European Union.

The meeting was attended by the group's foreign ministers including Antony Blinken of the U.S., Russia's Sergei Lavrov and China's Qin Gang.

Russia had earlier accused the West of "burying" a deal to allow some of the Ukrainian grain exports. But the U.S. argued by saying that Russia was the one hampering Ukrainian exports.

The New Delhi event was the first one-on-one meeting of the top diplomats from the U.S. and Russia since the war started in February 2022.

The two also met on the sidelines of the event. While U.S. officials said that the meeting was "unexpected" and lasted for around 10 minutes, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that the it took place at the U.S.' request. It happened while Lavrov was "on the go" during the afternoon session of the G20 meeting, reported The Wire.

Hours later, Blinken confirmed that he spoke with Lavrov, and said that he told the Russian foreign minister that Washington would be supporting Ukraine. He also called for ending the war through diplomatic terms based on Ukraine's peace proposal.