- Wednesday, May 08, 2024
The Russian foreign ministry said the G7 countries (primarily the US, Britain, Germany and France) were putting pressure on India to include their unilateral approaches to the Ukraine situation in the final documents of the G20 events.
By: Shubham Ghosh
RUSSIAN president Vladimir Putin might not be present at the G20 summit starting in New Delhi, India, on Saturday (9), but it seems Moscow is keeping a full track of the proceedings even before the event officially kicks off.
The Russian foreign ministry has taken a dig at the western nations saying in a press release that the “G7 countries” were pressuring India to include their unilateral approaches to the situation in Ukraine reflected in the final documents of the summit, Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency reported.
It also said that New Delhi was trying to follow a neutral course, based on a strictly economic mandate of G20. It added that India turned down the western powers’ demands to invite Ukraine to the meetings on the G20 platform.
The release came ahead of Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s participation at the event. Like in the recent BRICS summit in South Africa, Lavrov is representing Russia at the G20 summit in the absence of Putin.
“The G7 countries (primarily the US, Britain, Germany and France) are putting pressure on India, trying to have their unilateral approaches to the situation around Ukraine reflected in the final documents of the G20 events,” the ministry said.
Russia was earlier a member of the G7 (G8 then) but was suspended following its invasion of Crimea in 2014.
“Against this background, the Indian side is trying to adhere to a neutral course, based on the strictly economic mandate of the G20. India rejected the West’s demands for inviting Ukraine to the meetings on this platform, thus preventing the United States and its allies from reducing to nothing with their opportunistic considerations the tangible practical achievements of New Delhi’s one-year presidency,” the ministry added.
The Russian foreign ministry also said that the G20 “is negatively influenced by geopolitical rifts and splits in the international community and unilateral approaches of the Western states aimed at pushing through their confrontational initiatives.”
“A keen dialogue on sectoral matters often gives way to politicized discussions and unproductive squabbles. Since 2022, the Western countries have been pursuing a systematic course towards including the Ukrainian theme in the G20 agenda, including specialized tracks of the forum’s activities for persistently pushing through their geopolitical vision, thus damaging the constructive solution of crucial problems,” the ministry added.
Experts have expressed apprehension over the G20 summit’s success in the absence of two major powers in Russia and China and said both Moscow and Beijing have toughened their respective stances in world affairs since the conclusion of the previous G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, last November.
