With a day left for the G20 Summit to begin in New Delhi, the US has said that it was unlikely that a joint declaration will be signed in the G20 Summit this week as "Russia and China are less likely to sign on it."
Though the last G20 meeting had produced a joint statement, no such thing happened after the Ukraine invasion began. Ever since, India has been issuing 'chair’s summary and outcome documents' after every ministerial meeting, with Russia and China’s objections recorded in the footnotes. That said, Sherpas are still trying to reach a consensus over the proposed "Delhi Declaration" to be adopted at the summit.
However, John Kirby, National Security Council (NSC) coordinator for strategic communications, added that the G20 summit may also end without a joint declaration due to the current standoff between Russia and the West. "We certainly hope so. But, I mean, I think you know it's difficult to get 20 clocks to chime at the same time, so we're going to have to – we're going to work on this. We know that the Indians also would like to see a joint communique if you will, so we'll see where it goes," Kirby said, adding that the Ukraine war continues to be an issue.
"Often times the sticking point tends to be the war in Ukraine because countries like Russia and China are less likely to sign on to language that the rest of the international community is more uncomfortable signing on to, so we'll see where it goes. But we'd like to see that, absolutely," he added.
Meanwhile, reports quoting a senior 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.
While acknowledging the talks, the EU official told reporters that "very tough negotiations" are going on, especially on geopolitical issues like Ukraine. "However, 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," he said.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, who will represent Moscow at the meeting, has already said that Russia would block any summit Declaration that doesn't reflect Moscow's views on Ukraine and other crises.
The US has said that the Ukraine war will continue to be the focal point of the discussions. "The reality is that Russia's war has already had devastating social, and economic consequences, and the poorest countries on the planet are bearing the brunt of that," he said.
Reshaping IMF, World Bank
Kirby added that the US wants the G20 countries to help reshape and scale up multilateral development banks like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
"One of our main goals heading into the G20 is to help reshape and scale up multilateral development banks like the IMF, like the World Bank," Kirby told foreign reporters at a news conference here on Wednesday.
"We know that these institutions are some of the most effective tools for mobilising transparent and high-quality investment in developing countries. And that's why the United States has championed the major effort that is currently underway to evolve these institutions so that they're up for the challenges of tomorrow, he said.
President Biden will also be calling on G20 members to provide meaningful debt relief so that low and middle-income countries can regain their footing after years of stress on their economies and their people.
"Last but not least and this is certainly important you'll see that the United States will make it clear that we remain committed to the G20 as a critical forum for all the major economies of the world to come together for global problem-solving," he said.
