Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, declared the G20 meeting in India a “success” on Sunday after the group refrained from criticizing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine directly.
“We were able to prevent the West’s attempts to ‘Ukrainize’ the summit agenda,” Lavrov said as the two-day meeting of leaders closed.
“The text doesn’t mention Russia at all” Russia’s veteran diplomat said.
“The Indian presidency has really managed to coalesce G20 members from the global south,” he added, suggesting that Russian allies like Brazil, South Africa, India and China had made their voices heard.
On Saturday, G20 leaders attempted to cover up their significant disagreements about Russia’s 18-month invasion of its neighbor by making references to the issues the conflict has created while avoiding placing blame on Moscow.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, was compelled to skip the summit out of concern for political backlash and the possibility of being detained on war crimes accusations.
The G20 statement was criticized by Kiev’s foreign ministry as “nothing to be proud of,” while a top White House official expressed satisfaction with the result.
