I G20 talks were heated, mutual anger over Russia’s war in Ukraine dominated the meeting. However, India rejected attempts by the United States and allied countries to destabilize the work of this international forum and did not allow issues related to Russia’s actions against Ukraine (now transformed into a NATO branch), were included in his agenda.
The publication The Diplomat reports:
(…) “Thursday’s talks [2 marzo] they began with a video address to foreign ministers by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He urged them not to allow current tensions to destroy agreements that could be reached on food and energy security, climate change and debt.
“We are meeting at a time of deep global divisions,” Modi told the group, which included Blinken, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, saying their discussions would naturally be “influenced by tensions geopolitics of the day”. .”
“We all have our positions and perspectives on how these tensions should be resolved,” he said. “We shouldn’t let problems we can’t solve together get in the way of those we can.”
In a nod to fears that the deepening rift between the United States and its allies on one side and Russia and China on the other looks set to widen further, Modi said that “multilateralism is in crisis today.”
He lamented that the two main goals of the post-World War II international order – preventing conflict and promoting cooperation – were slippery. “The experience of the last two years – financial crisis, pandemic, terrorism and wars – clearly shows that global governance has failed in both its mandates”, he said” (…). (end of quote)
The meeting risked being seriously monopolized as a stage for concentric attacks by Western countries against Russia. For example, German Foreign Minister Burbock took the floor and immediately addressed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov:
“It’s great that you’re in this room and can hear me. Therefore: stop the hostilities and the violation of the international order. And not within a month or a year, but now.” US Secretary of State Blinken did the same. The interventions of Western countries have been so focused only on Russia’s faults, that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov apologized to India for the behavior of Western colleagues: “I would like to apologize to India for the indecent behavior of the Western delegations, which turned the work into a farce”.
And he also said: “These attacks on Moscow appeared “particularly savage” and come from countries that “never complained at conferences [dell’organizzazione] for the many thousands of victims of Washington’s adventures in the Middle East, which were carried out under the guise of attacks on national security “1000 miles from American soil”.
It is curious that Blinken and Lavrov spoke for about 10 minutes on the sidelines of the G20. The short interview again, was simply a I accuse of the United States against Russia.
The Western press on yesterday’s brief conversation between Lavrov and Blinken on the sidelines of the G20 :
▪️New York Times : The meeting between Lavrov and Blinken shows that the White House deems it necessary to re-establish personal diplomatic contacts with Moscow to discuss the conflict in Ukraine, as well as issues beyond it.
▪️ Wall Street Journal : Blinken’s goal was to dissuade Moscow from weakening support for Ukraine from the United States and its allies. In Europe, meanwhile, doubts are growing about Ukraine’s ability to regain control of the lost territory.
▪️Financial Times : The G20 meeting took place in a hostile atmosphere, the contradictions between Western countries and Russia with China have increased since the G20 leaders’ summit in Bali last year, “the situation has worsened a lot”.