NEW DELHI: Ukraine will be on everyone’s mind during the upcoming G20 Summit, said an EU official on Wednesday.
"Ukraine will figure in all the interventions of the upcoming Summit. India is trying a balancing act on Ukraine – which is obvious from all the abstentions on the resolutions on Ukraine in the UN," said the official.
India has called for a cessation of hostilities without publicly criticising Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The differences between the G7 states on the one hand and Russia and China on the other have held up joint statements in all G20 ministerial meetings hosted by India.
While the Bali declaration was acceptable to the EU, the official said, "The text provided by the India for negotiations on the draft leaders declaration, on the conclusion of the G20 Summit, does not go 'far enough' on the Ukraine crisis. China and Russia are kind of isolated on this issue," adding that the negotiations were continuing.
The EU is upset that Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskky wasn’t invited for the Summit – unlike in Bali. A similar tone was set by Canadian President Justin Trudeau a few days back when he said he was disappointed that Zelenskky wasn’t invited for G20 and that he would raise a pitch for Ukraine.
The EU official also dismissed Russia’s plea that G20 was not a platform to discuss politics as it was an economic forum.
"The G20 has evolved to be more political than we think. If you have leaders of the most important countries in political and economic terms, it’s an illusion that you would just address economic topics," the official added.