Most G-20 Officials Condemn Russia’s War on Ukraine

Jiji Press

11:47 JST, February 26, 2023

Bengaluru, India, Feb. 25 (Jiji Press)—Most of the finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 major economies strongly condemned Russia’s war on Ukraine, a chair’s summary released Saturday after their two-day meeting showed.

The G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors failed to issue a joint statement for the fourth consecutive meeting due to opposition from Russia and China.

Over the conflict in Ukraine, Western countries that condemn it as an illegal war of aggression failed to narrow gaps with Russia and China.

“Japan and many other countries condemned the Russian aggression in the strongest terms,” Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told a press conference after the G-20 meeting.

The chair’s summary said the Ukraine war is “constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks.”

The summary called for greater multilateral coordination to address debt vulnerabilities in low and middle-income countries.

The global economic outlook has modestly improved, the summary said. However, “global growth remains slow, and downside risks to the outlook persist,” it said.

Suzuki and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met on the sidelines of the G-20 gathering and discussed support for Ukraine and debt vulnerabilities in developing countries. They confirmed powerful Japan-U.S. relations and agreed that the two countries will continue working together to address challenges to the global economy.