PM says G20 stance on Ukraine invasion ‘strongest yet’

Andrew Brown | September 10, 2023

World leaders have delivered “the strongest messaging yet” in denouncing the invasion of Ukraine, Anthony Albanese says.

In a leaders’ declaration issued on day one of the G20 summit in New Delhi, nations agreed on the Ukraine conflict that all states “must refrain from threats” and that “today’s era must not be war”.

There had been concern before the start of the summit a consensus would not be reached due to Russia being unwilling to condemn its own military action.

The prime minister welcomed the leaders’ declaration and said the G20 had delivered its most striking condemnation of Russia’s invasion.

“The G20 has delivered a strong consensus on Russia’s war on Ukraine, that message is very strong language and is the strongest language yet to be agreed by the international community,” he told reporters on Saturday night.

“A backdrop of this G20 has been the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the impact it’s having on the global economy, on food security, as well as obviously the devastating impact of of this war on the people of Ukraine.”

However, the declaration made concessions in that “there were different views and assessments of the situation”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend this year’s G20, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov taking his place.

Mr Albanese said the message from leaders repudiating the war was “extraordinarily strong,” rejecting claims the statement was watered down.

“It makes it very clear about sovereignty, about UN resolutions,” he said.

“It’s a call for the peaceful resolution of conflict. I think it is a very strong statement.”

The leaders’ declaration also called for a tripling of renewable energy technology capacity.

The prime minister met with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the summit on Saturday.

The pair talked about regional security in the Pacific climate change and attempts to finalise a free-trade deal with the European Union.

Mr Albanese had held informal talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on a free-trade agreement between Australia and the EU, which had previously been stalled in negotiations.

The pair spoke about finalising the agreement as soon as possible. 

He also held formal bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, along with informal discussions with US President Joe Biden.

The prime minister will give a second address to the summit on the final day of the leaders’ meeting on Sunday.

During an earlier intervention, Mr Albanese expressed the need for countries to act sooner to commit to net-zero, saying urgent action was needed to prevent a further exacerbation of climate change.