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 followed suit. The gathering will be the first time foreign ministers from some of the world’s leading economies have met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Speaking ahead of the G20 meeting from Thursday to Friday, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner said it would not be a “normal summit” nor “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. Top officials from Britain, Canada and the United States walked out on Russian representatives during a G20 economic meeting in Washington in April. read more US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will take an active part in the meeting, while “he also remains committed to another primary objective, and that is the fact that it cannot be business as usual with the Russian Federation,” a US State Department spokesman said. . . Blinken will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Bali, but no meeting with Lavrov is expected. read more As chair of the G20 this year, Indonesia has been at the center of a geopolitical storm over the war, trying to fend off threats by Western countries to boycott meetings. Following the foreign ministers’ meeting, G20 finance ministers are scheduled to meet next week, also in Bali. Seeking to capitalize on Indonesia’s neutrality, President Joko Widodo launched an ambitious peacekeeping mission last week, visiting Kyiv and Moscow to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president, who is popularly known as Jokowi, has invited Ukraine to the G20 this year, tried to persuade Russia to end a grain export embargo leading to a global food crisis and offered Indonesia as a “diplomatic bridge” between the nations. Ukraine’s ambassador to Indonesia Vasyl Hamianin said his country’s foreign minister will give a virtual speech at the meeting in Bali.
PLAN TO RECONSIDER G20 MEETINGS
Despite early discussions of rigging some G20 meetings, Western leaders ultimately decided that conceding the floor to Russia would be counterproductive, said Max Bergmann, a Russia and Europe expert and former senior US State Department official. “If you don’t show up and then the Russians have the floor with some really critical countries like Indonesia, India and others, then they’re going to make their case non-negotiable,” said Bergman, who is now at the Washington Strategy Center. and International Studies. Ramin Tolui, US undersecretary of state for economic and business affairs, said on Tuesday that food and energy would feature prominently at the meeting. read more “G20 countries should hold Russia accountable and insist that it supports ongoing UN efforts to reopen sea lanes for grain deliveries,” he said. During a trip to Vietnam on Wednesday, Russia’s Lavrov called on all parties in the world to make efforts to protect international laws as “the world evolves in a complicated way.” His comments ahead of his arrival in Bali come as Russia has been accused by Western countries of violating international law through its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special operation”. The reaction to Lavrov in Bali could also provide an indication of how G20 members might react if Putin attends the group’s summit in November in person, which has yet to be confirmed. The Indonesian president, who until recently has not usually been very active in foreign policy matters, saw his handling of the group’s presidency as a defining moment in his presidency, said Murray Hiebert, a Southeast Asia specialist at CSIS. “Jokowi is desperate to avoid a diplomatic train if Putin turns up in November,” he said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Alexander Ratz in Berlin, David Brunnstrom in Washington and Kate Lamb in Sydney. Editing by Ed Davies and Raju Gopalakrishnan Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
