Russia's Lavrov thanks India for preventing attempts to ‘politicise’ G20, calls Summit a ‘milestone’

India achieved a milestone in its G20 presidency as all leaders agreed to the New Delhi Declaration after India changed the text on Ukraine.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday expressed gratitude towards India for “preventing attempts to politicise” the G20 Summit. “We were able to prevent the West's attempts to 'Ukrainize' the summit agenda,” he said during a press briefing as the two-day meeting of global leaders of the top 20 economies concluded.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov(AP)

Calling the Summit a “milestone”, Lavrov said, “The active role of the Indian presidency has genuinely consolidated the G20 countries from the Global South for the first time in history…It is a breakthrough summit in many ways. It provides us a way forward to move ahead in many issues.”

“Our BRICS partners- Brazil, India, China, and South Africa have been particularly active and thanks to these consolidated positions taken by the Global South countries to uphold and protect their legitimate interests,” he added.

On challenges emanating from climate change, the Russian foreign minister said the Western powers have “done nothing on its promise of providing USD 100 billion annually to developing nations to deal with climate change.”

New Delhi Declaration shows a fine balance on Russia-Ukraine war

India achieved a milestone in its G20 presidency as all leaders agreed to the New Delhi Declaration after India changed the text on Ukraine. The Indian Presidency managed to pull off a fine balance - by highlighting the human suffering and negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine, but not blaming Moscow particularly.

“Concerning the war in Ukraine, while recalling the discussion in Bali, we reiterated our national positions and resolutions adopted at the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly and underscored that all states must act in a manner consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter in its entirety,” the text on Ukraine read.

It added, “Today’s era must not be of war…We call on all states to uphold the principles of international law including territorial integrity and sovereignty, international humanitarian law, and the multilateral system that safeguards peace and stability. The peaceful resolution of conflicts, and efforts to address crises as well as diplomacy and dialogue are critical.”

“…We will unite in our endeavour to address the adverse impact of the war on the global economy and welcome all relevant and constructive initiatives,” the declaration read.

Ukraine says ‘nothing to be proud of’

However, Ukraine criticised the New Delhi Declaration's text on Ukraine for not mentioning Russia. Ukraine foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said that it is “nothing to be proud of” and added, "It is clear that the participation of the Ukrainian side (in the G20 meeting) would have allowed the participants to better understand the situation."

(With inputs from agencies)