Summit: G20: Agreement on compromise text on war in Ukraine

At the G20 summit in New Delhi, the leading industrialized and emerging countries agreed on a joint final declaration despite major differences of opinion on the war in Ukraine. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this on Saturday. According to information from the German Press Agency, the text passage on the Ukraine war addresses demands from both Russia and the West.

Moscow has therefore achieved that the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is no longer explicitly condemned, as it was last year. Instead, reference is now only made to relevant United Nations resolutions.

The West, on the other hand, negotiated a formulation according to which all states must refrain from attacks on the territorial integrity or political independence of other states. In addition, Russia’s nuclear weapons threats are again being criticized, at least indirectly. “The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible,” says the text, which is available to the German Press Agency. It was proposed by India along with South Africa, Brazil and Indonesia.

What will be particularly important for Moscow is that the text also addresses Russian demands for easing Western sanctions. It says it calls for ensuring the “immediate and unhindered delivery of grain, food and fertilizers/additives from the Russian Federation and Ukraine”. This is necessary to meet the needs of developing countries, especially those in Africa.

Hard struggle between the negotiators

Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin recently canceled an agreement for the transport of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea, citing Western sanctions against his country. He argues that the punitive measures also hinder the transport of Russian food and fertilizer to other parts of the world.

Delegations had previously reported that there was a tough struggle between negotiators over the wording. According to the information, the West was faced with an alliance of China and Russia. Beijing is considered Moscow’s most important international partner and has not yet condemned the war of aggression against Ukraine. Because of the dispute, it was unclear whether there would be a joint final declaration by the participants, as usual.

Another point of conflict was whether the G20 summit in 2026 should be hosted in the United States or elsewhere. According to diplomats, the USA prevailed against China. Next year’s summit will be held in Brazil, and in 2025 in South Africa.

At the previous G20 summit on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali in 2022, apparently under pressure from China, Moscow agreed to include the sentence in the final declaration: “Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine.” Russia’s position was depicted with the words: “There were different views and different assessments of the situation and the sanctions.”