BENGALURU, India (AP/Reuters) — A meeting of finance chiefs of the Group of 20 leading economies ended on Saturday without a consensus, with Russia and China objecting to the description of the war in Ukraine in a final document.
The meeting hosted by India issued the G-20 Chair’s summary and an outcome document stating that there was no agreement on the wording of the war in Ukraine. The first day of the meeting took place on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Group of Seven major industrial nations announced new sanctions against Russia on Friday, just as the talks of the G-20 group wrapped up in confusion in the Indian technology hub of Bengaluru.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen condemned the “illegal and unjustified war against Ukraine” at a session attended by Russian officials and reiterated calls for G-20 nations to do more to support Ukraine and hinder Moscow’s war effort.
Russia, which is a member of the G20, refers to its actions in Ukraine as a “special military operation”, and avoids calling it an invasion or war.
Host India is also pressing the meeting to avoid using the word “war” in any communique, G20 officials have told Reuters. India, which holds the current G20 presidency, has kept a largely neutral stance on the war, declining to blame Russia for the war, seeking a diplomatic solution and sharply boosting its purchases of Russian oil.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said there was no way the group could step back from a joint statement agreed at a G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, last November, which said “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine” but also acknowledged some countries saw the conflict differently.
“Either we have the same language or we do not sign on the final communique,” Le Maire told reporters.
Such stand-offs have become increasingly common in the G20, a forum created over 20 years ago in response to past economic crises but which has recently been hobbled by differences between Western nations and others including China and Russia.