G20 ministers meet in India under threat of Ukraine’s split | USA | Russia | Chinese | the world

US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkenwill come to New Delhi on Wednesday for the meeting G20 It will also be attended by his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and could be marked by a split in the conflict. Ukraine and tensions China.

The two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the world’s 20 largest economies follows a meeting of finance ministers that failed to agree on a final report on differences over Ukraine.

China and Russia were the only members of the group that did not ratify passages of the document.War in Ukraine.

read more: Debt, money and war test the powers within the G20

Blinken and Lavrov are unlikely to meet. According to Western diplomats, when the Russian minister walked out of the meeting, they had not been in the same room since last July’s G20 meeting in Bali.

They last met face-to-face in January 2022, weeks before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and they later discussed other topics but not the war.

Lavrov arrived on Tuesday night in India, a country that has not condemned the war, and will use the G20 meeting to criticize the West, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

For Moscow, the West wants to “Avenging the inevitable disappearance of dominant means from their hands”The Russian ministry said in a statement.

“The destructive policies of the United States and its allies have brought the world to the brink of disaster, retarded socioeconomic development, and worsened the condition of the poorest countries.”he added.

read more: Russia accuses the West of “destabilizing” the G20 meeting

“Spy” balloon

A Blinken meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang also seems unlikely.

On February 4, the US shot down a Chinese spy balloon off its west coast. “An unacceptable violation of US sovereignty and international law.”

Beijing denied it was a spy balloon, saying it was for climate research.

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi. “Urged the US to change course, recognize and correct its excessive use of force in Sino-US relations” State news agency Xinhua reported.

Blinken met Wang in Germany, where he invited him to avoid being grilled material support” Although China denies such a motive, as is speculated in Washington, to Russia for its war.

Blinken is due to meet on Friday with his counterparts from the Quad, which many see as a bulwark against China in the Asia-Pacific region, comprising the US, Japan, Australia and India.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry said the appointment will be confirmed “Commitment to strengthening a free and open international order based on the rule of law”.

read more: G20 finance summit ends without joint statement due to disagreements over Ukraine

Indian in trouble

The Group of Twenty consists of 19 countries and the European Union (EU) and accounts for 85% of the world’s economy and two-thirds of its population.

India wants to focus on issues like poverty alleviation and climate finance, but the war in Ukraine dominates the agenda.

New Delhi shares the West’s concern about China, but it is also a major buyer of Russian arms and has increased imports of Russian oil.

India also did not condemn the invasion of Ukraine, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed this to Russian President Vladimir Putin last year. “These are not times for war.”

European diplomatic chief Joseph Borrell said he hoped India would take advantage of the meeting “We must make Russia understand that this war must end.”

“The success of today’s meeting will be measured by what we can do about it”Borel told reporters in Delhi.

Source: AFP