Blinken and Lavrov clash at fractious G20 summit

The first round of meetings between G20 foreign ministers in Delhi ended in acrimony today, with the war in Ukraine driving a wedge between the world’s most powerful nations.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken blamed Moscow’s “unprovoked and unjustified war” for marring the talks, while Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western countries of “not thinking of diplomacy anymore; they now only deal in blackmail and threatening everyone else.”

Russian officials also said that Moscow and Beijing had agreed to oppose this Western hostility – but this hasn’t been confirmed by China.

Lavrov and Blinken had a brief talk at the sidelines of the event, their first face to face meeting since the war began. Blinken told his Russian counterpart that the US would support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” and urged Moscow to re-join the New START nuclear arms control treaty. There’s no word on how Lavrov responded, but a change of heart looks, er, unlikely.

The frosty words mean there was no joint statement. “We tried, but the gap between the countries was too much,” India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar said.

It was always going to be difficult. Splits in the G20 were laid bare last week at the United Nations General Assembly. On a motion calling for Moscow’s immediate withdrawal from Ukraine and an end to the fighting, Russia voted against, while China, India and South Africa abstained. The rest voted in favour.

The G20 consists of the world’s 19 richest nations, plus the European Union. The group’s members account for 85% of world GDP and two thirds of the global population.

Today’s animosity is a blow for the hosts. For years, India has been positioning itself as a leading voice of developing countries – the Global South. The G20 presidency is an opportunity for Delhi to demonstrate its clout by forging consensus and sticking up for these nations’ interests.

In his opening video address, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi put these concerns front and centre: “After years of progress, we are at risk today of moving back on the sustainable development goals,” he said. “Many developing countries are struggling with unsustainable debts while trying to ensure food and energy security.

“They are also most affected by global warming caused by richer countries.This is why India’s G20 presidency has tried to give a voice to the Global South.”

Although Modi did not mention Ukraine, he acknowledged that geopolitical tensions would affect the discussions. And so it proved.

India has so refused to condemn Vladimir Putin’s war and is trying to position itself as peacemaker. It also sees Ukraine as a distraction from bigger global issues. But the two are closely intertwined; without a united response against Russia, progress on other problems that require consensus is made much more difficult. Today’s events go to show that hedging your bets comes with its own costs. 

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