G20 chair Indonesia says ‘many’ nations condemned Russia at talks

A two-day gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors on the resort island of Bali ended without a joint communique because of disagreements with Russia about the war.

But Western nations pressed Russia over the military assault, accusing Moscow of sending a shockwave through the global economy and its technocrats of complicity in alleged war crimes committed.

“Many members agreed that the recovery of the global economy has slowed and is facing a major setback as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which was strongly condemned, and called for an end to the war,” Indonesia said in the declaration.

Jakarta, which has been balancing its neutral foreign policy stance with hosting the G20 summit in November, replaced a joint communique with a 14-paragraph chair’s statement that did not fall under the forum’s banner and included two sections on members’ differences.

“One member expressed the view that the sanctions are adding to existing challenges,” it said, in an apparent reference to Russia, which has denied blame for the current global economic headwinds.

There was also no G20-wide consensus on the global food crisis exacerbated by Russia’s attack, which is threatening to leave millions in developing nations at risk of hunger.