Its foreign ministers G20 are meeting today in Indonesia to discuss the effects on the world economy of the war on Ukraine and the ways to respond to the food and energy crisis, the consequences of which may be “disastrous”.
“The world is watching us,” said Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, urging participants to adopt an attitude of “cooperation”.
“The price of a failure to agree is higher than we can afford,” he warned. “The humanitarian implications for many low-income countries will be destructive».
The meeting of finance ministers and heads of Central Banks will last two days and is taking place in Bali, a week after the G20 foreign ministers meeting which sent a strong message to Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Initially the discussions were planned to be about the best way to return to development after the covid-19 pandemic, but the effects of the war in Ukraine, with the energy and food crisiswere finally at the top of the agenda.
New confrontation
THE Session is expected to give rise to a new confrontation between the West, which blames the current economic problems on Moscow, and developing countries that oppose the imposition of sanctions on Russia, led by China.
As reported by the Athens News Agency, Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is originally from Ukraine, accused the Russian delegation of being responsible for “war crimes” for supporting the invasion of Ukraine, a Canadian official said.
“It’s not just generals who commit crimes, but also the technocrats of the economy who make it possible war and allow it to continue,” he explained.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov will participate online in the meeting, while his Ukrainian counterpart Sergei Marchenko has also been invited to speak via video link.
Yesterday Thursday the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen estimated that “the biggest challenge” for her global economy stems from the war in Ukraine, stressing that “representatives of the Putin regime should have no place in this forum.”
Italian Economy Minister Daniel Franco stressed that the G20 “must play a role” key” in order to avoid food insecurity to turn into a humanitarian crisis”.
As there is no agreement between countries on the causes of financial problems and on Russia’s responsibility, the issuance of a joint communique remains uncertain.
Indonesia, the country hosting the G20 this year, wanted to remain neutral and did not succumb to the Western pressures to exclude Russia from the meeting.
However, there are quite a few absentees, as many countries sent lower-ranking delegations.
In addition, the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, will participate via video link, as will the finance ministers of China and Brazil, while the president of the World Bank, David Malpass, will be absent.
Source: News Beast
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