At G20 Summit, Ukraine FM Kuleba calls for determined global response to Russia's war

Amid growing pressure in east Europe, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday called for a "resolute global response" to the Russian war. Addressing the G20 Foreign Ministers' Summit virtually from Kyiv, Kuleba emphasised that "putting Russia in its place is the global challenge number one," which was proved in the meeting ongoing in Bali, Indonesia.

This comes after Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi called on her G20 counterparts to "find ways" for a concrete solution to the 135-day-running Russian invasion of Ukraine. In her opening address, the Indonesian FM and host of the ongoing G20 summit highlighted that it is pertinent to end the conflict "sooner than later" given the looming threat of a global food crisis, which will potentially hit the low-income countries. She stressed the G20 foreign ministers should come together to ensure "settling differences at negotiating table and not the battlefield."

It is pertinent to mention that Russia is attending a global forum for the first time since it launched the war against Ukraine. Also, for the first time since the onset of the east-European conflict, top diplomats of the US and Moscow will be in the same room. For the unversed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as well as US State Secretary Antony Blinken are attending the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit, although they will not see each other face-to-face amid the battle for supremacy.

Russian war in Ukraine dominates talks at G20: Report

According to the Associated Press, deliberations on the Russia-Ukraine war are expected to largely overshadow the key conclave in Bali. The talks on Thursday reportedly opened against the backdrop of sharp divisions over the European crisis, which analysts say is bound to have a ripple effect on developing countries in areas like food and energy prices, post-pandemic recovery, and lingering effects of the climate change. The summit began with a jolt after UK PM Boris Johnson's resignation, who was a strong supporter of isolating Russia. This, according to the AP, could be a minor but pivotal victory for both China and Russia. In the wake of Johnson's departure, British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss had to return to London leaving France and Germany to back the US to promote a tough line on Russia.

Meanwhile, it is also to be noted that the host country's President Joko Widodo was one of the leaders to visit the war-torn European nation, Ukraine, and invited its president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a trip to Bali for November G20 Summit. Widodo also met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and requested him to attend the November meeting.

(Image: @DmytroKuleba/Twitter)