The two-day summit began on Tuesday at a time of high tension, with Lavrov representing Russian President Vladimir Putin at the event, and with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky listing a series of measures required for an end to the war in his country.
Most members of the G20 took the opportunity on Tuesday to condemn the war that began after Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine, saying it had “undermined the fundamental principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“We all depend on these principles. They are the foundations of the international order. They must be upheld,” Sunak told the G20 summit, highlighting Putin’s absence at the event.
“It is notable that Putin didn’t feel able to join us here. Maybe if he had, we could get on with sorting things out,” Sunak said. “Because the single biggest difference that anyone could make is for Russia to get out of Ukraine and end this barbaric war.”
“It is very simple—countries should not invade their neighbors, they should not attack civilian infrastructure and civilian populations and they should not threaten nuclear escalation,” Sunak added.
And according to a White House readout of a meeting between President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping at the summit, the U.S. president “raised Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine and Russia’s irresponsible threats of nuclear use.”
Lavrov said during a press conference at the G20 that he held brief talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Reuters reported however that, when pressed on the talks, Scholz said Lavrov had “stood near him and said a couple of sentences. That was the conversation.”
Lavrov slammed Kyiv’s conditions for peace talks as “unrealistic” and said that Ukraine was “refusing to talk,” making it “hard to reach an agreement.”
Zelensky in his virtual address appealed for support from “G19 leaders,” i.e. the G20 without Putin.
Among other measures, Zelensky said that Russia must agree to the territorial integrity of Ukraine, withdraw its troops from his country and pay compensation for damage caused by the invasion.
Lavrov fired back by repeating unsubstantiated claims that the invasion was justified because Russia was fighting neo-Nazis in Ukraine and accused Kyiv of dragging out the conflict.
Media reports have said most members of the G20 will release a joint declaration on Wednesday condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Foreign Ministry for comment.
