Foreign Minister Lavrov Says Russia Will Block Declaration Of The G20 Summit If The View Is Ignored

JAKARTA - Russia will block the final declaration of the G20 summit this month in India, unless the declaration reflects Moscow's position on Ukraine and other crises, so participants issue non-binding or partial communiques, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

"There will be no public declaration on behalf of all members if our position is not reflected," Foreign Minister Lavrov said in front of a Moscow State Institute of International Relations student.

Along with the absence of President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Lavrov was appointed to lead the Russian delegation at a meeting of New Delhi's leading industry and developing group 20 on September 9-10.

President Putin is known not to have traveled abroad since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him in March for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Lavrov further said Western countries had raised issues about Ukraine in preliminary meetings before the summit, with Russia answering "this issue is over for us".

He accused Western countries of weakening international institutions by imposing their own agenda, saying that if consensus could not be reached at the G20 meeting, then a non-binding communique could be issued by the G20 president.

"Another option is to adopt documents that focus on specific decisions in the field of G20 competence, and let all parties make decisions on their own behalf," Lavrov said.

The Kremlin called Ukraine's war, which began when Russia invaded in February 2022, an existential battle against an arrogant Western nation, which President Putin said wanted to dismantle Russia and take control of its enormous natural resources.

Western countries deny the intention, but say they want Ukraine to defeat Russia on the battlefield and have implemented several rounds of economic sanctions, in response to an invasion by Russia referred to as a "special military operation".

Meanwhile other major countries such as China, India, and Brazil have called for peace, but also have the right to determine their own relationship with Moscow.