The two-day meeting of G20 finance ministers in Indonesia is expected to end on Saturday without a joint communique, two officials said, as Russia’s war against Ukraine overshadowed the meeting,
KYIV. UkraineGate. 16 . July . 2022 | Political News .
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The talks took place in the shadow of Russia’s war against Ukraine, after it shook global markets, sent food prices soaring and fueled skyrocketing inflation.
This made the participants of the meeting unable to agree on the text with Russia, which disagrees with Western countries on the issue of its invasion of Ukraine, which is the cause of global economic problems. Instead, the Kremlin blames Western sanctions for blocking food supplies and increasing energy prices.
Instead of an official communiqué, there will be a statement from Indonesia, which chairs the G20, one of the sources said. Another source at the meeting said the host side would summarize the talks in a declaration outside the G20 banner.
“Russia tried to say that the world economic situation has nothing to do with the war,” a source in the French delegation told AFP on Friday.
Meanwhile, during talks on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, the countries’ finance chiefs accused Russian technocrats of complicity in the invasion. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Friday that the Russian invasion had caused a shock to the global economy.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko took part in the virtual meeting.
Russian Deputy Minister of Finance Timur Maksymov was present at the negotiations. According to a source who was present at the talks, he was in the room when Western officials voiced their condemnation.
Marchenko said the Russian invasion “clearly marks the end of the existing world order” and called for “tougher targeted sanctions” against Moscow.
At the start of the second day of talks, Indonesia’s central bank governor Perry Varjio called on ministers and global financial leaders to focus on reviving the global economy, which is still reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Saturday, participants will also discuss sustainable finance, cryptocurrencies and international taxation.
Source: Ukrgate
