At divided summit, most G-20 leaders sign on to condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine

A majority of Group of 20 wealthy nations roundly condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 that has killed thousands of people, caused widespread hunger in some African countries and upended the global economy.

The G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, ended on Wednesday with a leaders’ statement that notes United Nations resolutions deploring Russia's aggression in the strongest terms and calling on the Kremlin to immediately from Ukraine.

"Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy – constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks," the leaders said.

"There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions," they continued. "Recognizing that the G-20 is not the forum to resolve security issues, we acknowledge that security issues can have significant consequences for the global economy."

Averting 'a deeper crisis'

Since the G-20 includes Russia, it was noteworthy that the leaders' summit managed to overcome its divisions and put out an overall statement after six rounds of talks involving more than two weeks of preparatory negotiations.

The summit included U.S. President Joe Biden, China's President Xi Jinping, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the U.K.'s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, who hosted the G-20 gathering, said his nation's presidency of the group for the past year "was initiated with a hope of uniting joint purposes in creating an inclusive global recovery from the pandemic."

"Various emerging challenges are not only hindering the recovery, but also threatening the world toward a deeper crisis," he said. "Let us recover together, recover stronger."