Russia blames West for no joint communique at G20 FMs meet in Bengaluru

The Russian foreign ministry, in a statement, referred to "the constructive role" of the Indian presidency and its efforts to have a "fair consideration of interests and positions of all countries".

Russia on Sunday alleged that the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Bengaluru ended without a joint communique because of the "confrontational" approach towards Moscow by the "collective West" over the situation in Ukraine.

The G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors on Saturday was unable to come out with a joint communique following opposition by Russia and China on making any references to the war in Ukraine.

A chair's summary was issued by India at the end of the meeting in its capacity as the holder of the G20 presidency. The Russian foreign ministry, in a statement, referred to "the constructive role" of the Indian presidency and its efforts to have a "fair consideration of interests and positions of all countries".

"The balanced approaches formulated in this context create a good foundation for responding to modern challenges in the area of global finance and related sectors, including support for economic growth and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals," it said.

The Russian foreign ministry said that as a result of the substantive dialogue on topical financial issues, a wide range of measures was agreed upon which were designed to give an additional impetus to the global economy and financial markets.

"We regret that the activities of the G20 continue to be destabilised by the collective West and used in an anti-Russian, purely confrontational manner," it said. "Our opponents, primarily the United States, the EU and the G7, continue their paranoid attempts to isolate Russia and shift the blame for the provoked problems in the area of international security and the global economy onto it," it alleged. The Russian foreign ministry accused the West of throwing up what it called "absurd interpretations of the situation in Ukraine".

"As a result, the fully approved text of the document, except for the wording on Ukraine, which gives out for assessments of the discussion at the ministerial meeting something that was not actually discussed and is unrelated to the topic of its jurisdiction, had become a hostage to this aggressive line," it said. "The results of the meeting never received an agreed status and were released only as a statement by the chairman, and not as a joint work. Russia and China expressed a resolute protest in this regard," it said.