The G20 leaders agreed this Saturday at the New Delhi summit on a statement that urges “all states” to avoid “the threat or use of force to take territories”, but does not include a condemnation of the war in Ukraine. In line with the UN Charter and referring to the war in Ukraine, the text calls on “all states” to refrain from the use of force to act against the “territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state.”
The statement highlights the “human suffering and the added negative impact of the war in Ukraine,” although it does not include an explicit condemnation of the conflict. The leaders of the main rich and developing economies specifically cite the impact of the war on the food chain and energy security, as well as on financial stability, inflation and growth, highlighting its special impact on developing countries. developmental. There were, he adds, “different considerations about the situation.”
Likewise, it recalls the discussions held at the summit of the Group of Twenty in Bali last year, and cites as then the resolutions adopted in the UN Security Council on the war in Ukraine, recalling that all countries “must act accordingly.” manner consistent” with the principles of the United Nations. Last year, the communiqué from the November summit in Bali included a paragraph in which “the majority of members” “strongly condemned the war in Ukraine” and emphasized that “it is causing immense human suffering and aggravating existing fragilities.” . in the global economy”.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that, despite being less harsh than last year, the summit document includes “a number of significant paragraphs” on the war in Ukraine. “In our view, the document does a good job of supporting the principle that states cannot use force to violate the territorial integrity of others,” Sullivan told reporters in New Delhi.
Spain highlights the agreement as “very positive”
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, for his part, stated in a press conference that New Delhi’s statement “responds to the situation and concerns today, like Bali’s did last year.” French diplomatic sources indicated that the “priority was to return to the Bali language” and agree on the text with Russia and China, highlighting that the language on territorial integrity “is much more explicit.” Sources from the Spanish delegation also expressed themselves along these lines, highlighting the agreement as “very positive” and a “great success” and emphasizing the importance of the indirect condemnation of territorial aggression.
