The War in Ukraine and Global Inflationwhich threatens to trigger a global recession, are the key issues at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting which will be held Thursday and Friday in Bali (Indonesia), marked by the presence of Sergei Lavrov.

(Read: G7 will maintain ‘unlimited support’ for Ukraine, what does that mean?)

Russia’s foreign minister became an uncomfortable presence at the meetingprogrammed at the Mulia hotel in Nusa Dua (east of Bali), in which the heads of diplomacy of the twenty main industrialized and emerging economies are confronted with a dilemma: to speak or not to one of those responsible for the invasion of the ‘Ukraine.

This will be the first time many attendees will see Lavrov face to face. since Russia invaded the neighboring country, even if, for the moment, the only one to have met him this Thursday – the day reserved for the first bilateral meetings, while the group meetings will take place on Friday – is his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

“As part of the US strategic line of containing the development of our countries, we will continue to increase and expand our practical interaction,” Lavrov said, stressing the solidity of bilateral relations, in statements quoted by Russian television.

The Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs for his part assured in a less energetic way that, “despite the difficulties”, the two countries “remain together and share the strategic approach”.

China will be one of the few supporters of Russia at the meeting, since, with the exception of India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, which are more neutral , the rest of the G20 countries (United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Australia and European Union) are firm in their rejection of Moscow .

unusual encounter

Thus, the spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry, Christian Wagner announced this week that it would not be ‘a normal meeting’ due to Lavrov’s presencebut it is not expected that, as happened at an April G20 meeting in the UK, meetings will be boycotted due to the Russian’s presence.

The US State Department scheduled Tuesday that its secretary, Antony Blinken, would be an “active and full participant” in the meetings, and, although it ruled out a meeting with Lavrov, it was confirmed that he would meet Wang Yi on Friday, amid tensions between the two countries over Taiwan, among others.

With Wang, Lavrov’s partner, the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for foreign policy, Josep Borrell, also spoke on Thursday, who asked the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs to play a “more constructive role and to stop misinformation about Russia’s war in Ukraine.

For her part, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong stressed from Bali the importance of the G20 listening to Ukraine on the impact of the “illegal and immoral invasion” of Russia, while it is Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is expected to participate via videoconference on Friday.

On the sidelines of the bilateral meetings of a summit at which the presence of the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has also been confirmed, the ministers will take part in two multilateral sessions on Friday.

World hunger

In them, with the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, as guest of honor, the means to strengthen multilateralism and how to alleviate the food and energy crisis generated by the war in Ukraine, which led the United Nations to put warns against a possible “famine” in the world.

Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia, leading the G20 this year, personally offered to build bridges between Russia and Ukraine, as he did during his visit to the two countries and his meeting with their leaders, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, last week.

What happens between today and tomorrow, Friday, in Bali will serve as a prelude to the leaders’ meeting the island will host from November 11-13, at which Putin has already confirmed his attendance.

Ukraine, for its part, said its participation would then depend on the military situation in its country and whether or not Russia is present, Zelensky said on Sunday from Kyiv, whom Jokowi invited to participate although he does not not be part of the G20.

INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE

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