In the weeks leading up to the summit, hosted in India’s New Delhi this year, very sharp differing views on the Ukraine conflict had threatened to derail the gathering.
The United States led the push by the West to demand the G20 members strongly condemn Russia for the war.

The pressure by Washington was met with opposition from other G20 members, who chose to focus on other matters of global concern such as debt repayment structures, the environment and economic growth.

The consensus on a joint declaration highlights the diplomatic sensitivity of the crisis in Ukraine and has come as a surprise for many but will be seen as a blow to the U.S. and its closest Western allies who tried to push for strong condemnation of Russia, while other countries demanded to focus on other issues of concern.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the declaration. On the Ukraine war, he said, “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.”

“We… welcome all relevant and constructive initiatives that support a comprehensive, just, and durable peace in Ukraine.”

While the U.S. and its Western allies failed to turn the G20 summit into an anti-Russia agenda, the diplomatic muscle of other members has been commended. Ukraine was quick to criticize the wording of the statement, describing it as “nothing to be proud of” and highlighting that it failed to mention Russia.

Writing on social media, Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said, “It is clear that the participation of the Ukrainian side [in the G20 meeting] would have allowed the participants to better understand the situation.”

G20 host India itself has so far refused to condemn Russia for its war on Ukraine.

Critics have accused the U.S. and its allies of using international platforms to introduce contentious issues in their attempts to win over the Global South and swing it to Washington’s position on the most divisive issues at hand, such as the Ukraine war.

Experts believe that has made international conferences less productive, but have praised President Modi for making the G20 agenda very broad.

The weekend summit, which was supposed to be attended by heads of governments and states from across the world’s 20 largest economies, saw the absence of the Chinese and Russian leaders.

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent his premier Li Qiang instead and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin sent Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

While mainstream Western media have put forward the narrative that the absence of the two leaders was aimed at India hosting the summit, experts have argued that both leaders believe better results can be achieved at other global platforms such as BRICS and that India being the host had nothing to do with their non-attendance.

Svetlana Lukash, the Russian G20 government negotiator, has been cited by Interfax as saying that “all members of the G20 have agreed to act as one in the interests of peace, security and conflict resolution around the world.”

“There were very difficult negotiations on the Ukraine issue; first of all, the collective position of the BRICS countries and partners worked, everything was reflected in a balanced form,” Lukash added.

The section in the G20’s joint resolution on Ukraine also noted the “different views and assessments” on the war, while pointing out that all states must act in a manner “consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN charter in its entirety”.

It further called for the “timely and effective” implementation to ensure “immediate and unimpeded” deliveries of grain, food stuff and fertilisers from both Russia and Ukraine.

There was a very noticeable difference of the text on Russia’s role in the Ukraine war in comparison with last year’s G20 summit statement in Bali, with all references to “Russian aggression” or “Russia’s withdrawal” regarding the conflict in Ukraine that was present in the 2022 statement now removed.

Lavrov branded this year’s summit as a success and pointed out that it was the united position of the countries in the Global South? that avoided the meeting’s agenda from being overshadowed by the Ukraine conflict, saying they stood up “to protect their legitimate (economic) interests”.

He pointed out that the joint declaration “mentions the Ukraine crisis, but only in the context of the need to resolve all conflicts” in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter.

India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said his country’s presidency of the G20 has succeeded in the complicated task of drafting a joint declaration, which was “shared by all members,” and at the same time reflected differing opinions on sensitive issues.

Ahead of the summit, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged that the gathering would result in “very strong language about Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.”

Analysts say that some G20 members are party to the BRICS group of emerging economies, who have resisted the U.S. pressure to use the platform to create rifts with Russia and China.

The BRICS bloc is set to expand in January next year with its current and invited members taking a neutral stance toward the Ukraine war and are working along with many others in the international community on a peace settlement to end the fighting.

While the U.S. and its Western allies failed to turn the G20 summit into an anti-Russia agenda, the diplomatic muscle of other members has been commended.

In February 2022, Moscow declared “a special military operation” in Ukraine, citing the threat of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance’s eastward expansion toward Russian borders, the failure of the Minsk agreements and the rejection of its peace guarantees by Washington and NATO.

The U.S. (and its NATO allies) claims Russia’s military presence in Ukraine is a land grab operation and has shipped tens of billions of dollars of weapons to Ukraine, including cluster bombs and depleted uranium ammunition for tank shells, which will leave Ukrainians suffering for years and decades to come.

Critics accuse the U.S. of prolonging the war and suffering of Ukrainian civilians with its regular announcements of lucrative arms shipments to the warzone instead of presenting peace initiatives.

The post Divisions emerge at G20 summit appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The G20 statement came after health ministers from the 20 most advanced economies held a virtual meeting on Sunday hosted by the group’s current president Saudi Arabia following criticism the institution was slow to address the pandemic.

“Health Ministers recognized that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted systemic weaknesses in health systems,” they said in a joint statement.

“It also has shown vulnerabilities in the global community’s ability to prevent and respond to pandemic threats.

“Ministers addressed the need to improve the effectiveness of global health systems by sharing knowledge and closing the gap in response capabilities and readiness.”

The worldwide death toll from the novel coronavirus pandemic rose to 164,016 on Sunday, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.

More than 2,363,210 declared cases have been registered in 193 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December.

The novel coronavirus has upended the lives of billions of people as nations imposed lockdown measures to curb its spread, sending the global economy into a tailspin.

The G20 statement was silent on US President Donald Trump’s decision last week to cut off Washington’s bilateral funding to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Trump has accused the UN body of mishandling the coronavirus crisis.

The US contributed $400 million to the WHO last year.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has condemned the US suspension of funds, saying it was “not the time to reduce” the WHO’s resources.

The WHO remained “absolutely critical” in the global fight against the virus, he said.

The post G20: Pandemic Proves ‘Weaknesses’ in Health Systems appeared first on Iran News Daily.

“The creation of G20 was the recognition that G7 cannot anymore decide any issue of any significance,” Lavrov said. “And G20 which embraces G7, BRICS and like-minded countries who support the BRICS position on many occasions. This is a workable organization, especially in a situation when developing countries have grievances regarding the lack of progress on the reform of the UN Security Council.”

Lavrov stressed that the main deficiency of the UN Security Council is an underrepresentation of developing countries. “We repeatedly reiterated our position that India and Brazil absolutely deserve to be on the Council together with an African candidate. And our position is that the purpose of the UN reform is to make sure that the developing countries have a better treatment in the central organ of the United Nations,” he said, Tass reported.

He highlighted that the UN Charter is the anchor of any discussions on global issues.

“The principles such as sovereign equality of states, non-interference in internal matters, respect for territorial integrity, peaceful resolution of disputes should be applicable to each and every situation in the world. They should be the guiding point for any discussion to develop any new ideas on the world arena,” Lavrov noted.

The post Lavrov: G7 Lost Its Role appeared first on Iran News Daily.

According To Iran News, The United States is the world’s biggest source of instability and its politicians are going around the world baselessly smearing China, the Chinese government’s top diplomat said on Saturday in a stinging attack at a G20 meeting in Japan.

Relations between the world’s two largest economies have nose-dived amid a bitter trade war – which they are trying to resolve – and arguments over human rights, Hong Kong and US support for Chinese-claimed Taiwan.

Meeting Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok on the sidelines of a G20 foreign ministers meeting in the Japanese city of Nagoya, Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi did not hold back in his criticism of the United States.

“The United States is broadly engaged in unilateralism and protectionism, and is damaging multilateralism and the multilateral trading system. It has already become the world’s biggest destabilizing factor,” China’s Foreign Ministry cited Wang as saying, Reuters reported.

The United States has, for political purposes, used the machine of state to suppress legitimate Chinese businesses and has groundlessly laid charges against them, which is an act of bullying, he added.

“Certain US politicians have smeared China everywhere in the world, but have not produced any evidence.”

The United States has also used its domestic law to “crudely interfere” in China’s internal affairs, trying to damage “one country, two systems” and Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity, he added.

China was incensed this week after the US House of Representatives passed two bills to back protesters in Hong Kong and send a warning to China about human rights, with President Donald Trump expected to sign them into law, despite delicate trade talks with Beijing.

China runs Hong Kong under a “one country, two systems” model whereby the territory enjoys freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China like a free press, though many people in Hong Kong fear Beijing is eroding this. The government denies that.

Wang said that China’s development and growth was an inevitable trend of history that no force could stop.

“There is no way out for the zero-sum games of the United States. Only win-win cooperation between China and the United States is the right path.”

The post China Attacks US at G20 as World’s Biggest Source of Instability appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Speaking on a possible Putin’s meeting with Trump, he said that the Kremlin “has no news, there is nothing particular to say.”

Meanwhile, Peskov declined to speak about Putin’s meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the summit.

“We are only forming the schedule of meetings, I cannot say exactly,” Peskov noted, assuring that the presidential administration would announce this schedule as soon as it is approved.

The post Kremlin Comments on Putin’s G20 Schedule appeared first on Iran News Daily.

During the recent meeting in Argentina, ministers of trade and commerce of all the G20 states reached a full consensus on the need to reform the World Trade Organization (WTO), Argentine Ambassador to China Diego Ramiro Guelar said on Saturday.

The post G20 trade ministers agree on WTO reform appeared first on Iran News Daily.

US President Donald Trump has pledged to impose 25 percent duties on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum. Only neighbors Canada and Mexico were exempted.

“Up to now, finance ministers were reticent to tackle the subject of trade, considering that it was not their area of competence,” a source close to the negotiations said.

“But the situation is such today that they will not be able to not speak about it. The question is how far we can go.”

Meanwhile, the US treasury wants to use the meeting to win consensus on how to combat China’s trade practices, particularly its cheap steel exports.

Except that Trump, far from being reserved when it comes to Beijing, also regularly attacks Europe.

“It’s a funny strategy which consists of targeting China by threatening US allies,” said a European source.

The meeting in Buenos Aires, which also involve G20 central bank chiefs, will be a test of European cohesion ahead of a meeting next week between the US and EU officials on steel and aluminum taxes.

“The important thing is that the European position is coordinated and united,” France’s finance ministry said in the run-up to the talks, arguing that Europe “should be exempted” from US tariffs.

The G20 discussed the question of Chinese overcapacity during its 2016 meeting and asked the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to monitor efforts to curb supply, but to little avail.

– No progress on GAFA –

The OECD, which often serves as the operational arm of the G20, is struggling on another thorny issue — the taxation of the world’s tech giants, the so-called GAFA.

The acronym refers to the four behemoths of the digital industry: Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple, whose tax optimization practices are regularly a source of friction between the US and its allies.

The United States said Friday it “firmly opposes” any new tax on big tech, and the Paris-based OECD warned there were “divergent views about how the issue should be approached.”

Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain — the EU’s five G20 members — are pushing first for a European solution that can set an example for the rest of the world.

The European Union wants “big tech” to be taxed on overall revenue in the EU and not just on profits, somewhere between two percent and five percent according to a draft proposal obtained by AFP.

In Buenos Aires, ministers and central bank chiefs will also discuss the question of imposing greater oversight on cryptocurrencies.

The draft of the final communique mentions the usual pledge on devaluations and exchange rates: “We will refrain from competitive devaluations, and will not target our exchange rates for competitive purposes.”

But the word protectionism is conspicuous by its absence from the text, replaced by a warning to countries not to “retreat to inward looking policies”.

The post Tariffs and tech to tax G20 ministers in Argentina appeared first on Iran News Daily.