DThe finance ministers of the leading industrialized and emerging countries (G20) were unable to agree on a joint final declaration at their meeting in São Paulo due to disagreements over the war in Ukraine. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) said that despite intensive efforts there was no consensus for a joint communiqué. “It failed because we were unable to agree on a common language to assess the consequences of the war against Ukraine on the global economy.
Lindner added: “It is unfortunate because this war has significant consequences for global economic development and the poorest people in particular suffer from the consequences of these aggressions.” There were also voices at the summit that attempted to deny Russia's attack, which violates international law on Ukraine with the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. “That was also unacceptable for many colleagues and for me,” said the minister.
Brazil wanted to ignore the geopolitical crises
Instead of the final declaration, the country chairing Brazil published its own summary of the discussions. In this summary, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza are only mentioned in a footnote. The ministers addressed ongoing wars, conflicts and humanitarian crises and particularly highlighted Ukraine and Gaza, it said. Brazil, as host of the G-20 meeting, does not consider a meeting of finance ministers to be the right forum to clarify such geopolitical questions.
The Brazilians wanted to ignore the geopolitical crises and shift the debate about them to meetings of foreign ministers and heads of state and government. They wanted to focus the finance ministers' discussions purely on economic policy issues.
Lindner had already emphasized during the meeting that Germany could not agree to a final declaration that did not mention the geopolitical conflicts. There is the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the terror of Hamas and the humanitarian situation in Gaza. “All of this cannot leave us indifferent, it must also be discussed here. We have opposed abandoning these issues,” he said. There should be no habituation effect that would virtually normalize the war against Ukraine.
After a G-20 meeting, common assessments and goals are usually recorded in a communiqué. Since the Ukraine war, talks have repeatedly stalled because Russia is also a member of the group. Even at their meeting in India last year, the finance ministers were unable to agree on a common formulation.
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