Text drafted by India on Ukraine war did not go far enough: EU senior official on G20 joint declaration draft

Objections by Russia and China on the point of the Ukraine conflict have made it difficult for India to arrive at a joint declaration at every G20 Ministerial meeting.

New Delhi: Ahead of the G20 summit, a senior European Union (EU) official said that the text drafted by India on the Ukraine war did not go far enough to be accepted by G7 and EU members.

In a hybrid media briefing on Wednesday, a senior EU official told reporters that talks were still on to find a compromise that would allow for a joint statement to be released at the end of the summit on September 10, and noted that he was not optimistic.

The EU official said that there had been very tough negotiations, especially on geopolitical issues like Ukraine, adding "The text, as it is presented by India, is not enough. The G7, the EU, and its member countries feel it is not going far enough".

Objections by Russia and China on the point of the Ukraine conflict have made it difficult for India to arrive at a joint declaration at every G20 Ministerial meeting. The last time that any G20 meeting produced a joint statement was in Bali, Indonesia last year. Since then, India has been issuing outcome documents and a Chair's summary.

The EU official further reiterated that the West cannot accept any language that dilutes the text that was used in the G20 summit in Bali to refer to the Ukraine conflict.

“If we manage 19 against one, that would not be bad in a way. We want a reflection of our position and what is important to us, and we are well-supported. It is more Russia that is isolated than G7,” he said.

The senior official pointed out that Ukraine will certainly dominate the discourse at the Summit since it would be on everybody’s mind.

"It's an illusion that you will just address economic topics. Of course, maybe you can say this for Finance Ministers and Ministers and you have all those discussions. But when you have leaders, then it becomes more geopolitical. I think it is maybe the only forum where you have this plenary seating of leaders,” the official said.

India is all geared up to host the historic summit from 9-10 September, which will see world leaders like US President Joe Biden, and French President Emmanuel Macron converge under one platform to discuss and deliberate on solutions to the current global issues.