G20 FMs' meet today, Ukraine not on table

New Delhi, February 23

On the eve of a two-day meeting of G20 Finance Ministers beginning on Friday, India was trying to avoid Ukraine from overshadowing and derailing the agenda as has been insisted by several western ministers, including those from the US, the UK and Italy.

The feeling among western Finance Ministers belonging to the G7 bloc, which met in Bengaluru in the evening, was articulated by Italy’s Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti who wanted the sanctions introduced by G7 nations against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine to be applied by all G20 countries.

The insistence on sanctions by the entire G20 bloc has the potential to create fissures as at least six members from the Global South such as Indonesia, China, Brazil, South Africa and Saudi Arabia besides India want the G20 focus to remain on issues concerning emerging and developing countries such as the mounting debt burden and the shortage of food and fertilisers.

The ball was set rolling on behalf of the West by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen who devoted two-thirds of her opening remarks at her press meet on alleged Russian perfidy and the economic consequences of its operation in Ukraine.