The Russian attack on Ukraine this weekend added new complications to the G-20 Summit, which opened this Monday in Rio de Janeiro with strong pressure to modify the agreed document on the war unleashed by the invasion of Russia in February 2022.
This Sunday, Moscow launched the largest attack against Ukraine in a long time, especially targeting the country’s electrical grid. This led the members of the G-7 to ask the Brazilian presidency of the G-20 to reopen the document that had been agreed upon after endless conversations over the weekend.
Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of Norway, the country invited to this edition of the G20, said on Sunday night that “we have to be realistic.”
“I have seen the draft statements and they do not address individual conflicts in terms of finding solutions. If you want to reach a consensus on the declaration among these 20 countries, you have to be realistic. But obviously (conflicts in) the Middle East, Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar and many others will be discussed behind the scenes here in Rio.”
Russia will be represented in Rio de Janeiro by its chancellor, Sergei Lavrov, since the international arrest warrant against him for war crimes prevents Vladimir Putin from traveling abroad, with the exception of a few countries.
Brazil sought to avoid explicit condemnations of specific countries to reach a consensus, but this weekend it became known that Javier Milei, president of Argentina, refuses to sign a document in which he does not the Russian invasion is expressly condemned. The G-7 now joins that position.
In an interview with Folha de Sao Paulo, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz elliptically referred to the new panorama that opens after Donald Trump’s victory in the US elections. The Republican said on more than one occasion that, if he reached the White House, he would end the war “in one day.”
“We must have beware of false solutions that only contain peace in his name. Peace without freedom is called oppression, and peace without justice is called dictatorship,” said the social democratic leader.
“That’s why we support Ukrainian demands for a just peace that respects the principles of the UN Charter and those of territorial integrity and independence. For me, this means that we will support Ukraine in its right to self-defense, for as long as necessary. Putin has to realize that trying to buy time will not work. “We will not give up our support for Ukraine.”