How G20 Softened Its Stance on War in Ukraine

This year’s G20 summit in India has drawn condemnation from Kyiv after its leaders’ declaration adopted a softer tone towards Russia’s invasion of Ukraine than last year’s document.

At several points in the consensus declaration, published during the summit in New Delhi, the phrasing of the 2023 document appeared to take a step back from the outright criticism of Moscow and its now 18-month-old invasion of Ukraine that shone through in the 2022 announcement.

The G20 attendees hold a wide range of opinions on the war in Ukraine, and although many Western countries have strongly denounced the conflict, the opinion is not shared among all member nations. Reports in the lead-up to the unveiling of the consensus document had suggested divisions between some states over Ukraine.

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, said the document signed by the countries at the forum was “nothing to be proud of,” but added: “We are grateful to the partners who tried to include strong wording in the text.”

He attached an edited version of this year’s document, adding in references to Russia’s “aggression” and the war “against” Ukraine.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said ahead of the summit that “since 2022, Western countries have consistently sought to put Ukraine on the G20 agenda,” and that Moscow would “work closely with all G20 countries to debunk the Western myth about Russia’s ‘aggressiveness.'”

The Prime Minister of Britain, Rishi Sunak, called the consensus document “a good and strong outcome,” with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz adding it was “a statement which supports the territorial and sovereign integrity of Ukraine.”

The consensus document “does a very good job of standing up for the principle that states cannot use force to seek territorial acquisition or to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of other states,” U.S. national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told the media, according to Reuters.

This year’s leaders’ declaration called on all states to adhere to “the principles of international law, including territorial integrity and sovereignty, international humanitarian law, and the multilateral system that safeguards peace and stability.” The document, however, skirted around specifying Russia’s role in the 18-month-old conflict, only calling for “a comprehensive, just and durable peace in Ukraine.”

“All states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state,” said the 2023 document that was presented by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, after last year’s summit, held in Bali, Indonesia, the G20 said it “deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.”

The group said in November 2022 that it demanded Russia’s “complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine.”

“Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy,” the document continued last year.

Both documents do distance the G20 from a geopolitical role, emphasizing the overriding economic function of the forum.

“We designated the G20 [to be] the premier forum for global economic cooperation,” the Bali document said.

Using the same wording, the New Delhi document added that the G20 “is not the platform to resolve geopolitical and security issues.”

Both documents said the use of nuclear weapons is “inadmissible.”