US, Russia praise G20 summit declaration as meeting heads to close
Russia and the U.S. both praised a G20 summit declaration that stopped short of directly criticising Moscow for the war in Ukraine as the bloc's leaders headed into the final day of deliberations on Sunday.
The world's biggest economies adopted a consensus declaration in New Delhi on Saturday that avoided condemning Russia for the war but highlighted the human suffering the conflict had caused and called on all states not to use force to grab territory.
«Everything was reflected in a balanced form,» Svetlana Lukash, the Russian G20 sherpa, or government negotiator, was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Interfax.
«All members of the G20 have agreed to act as one in the interests of peace, security and conflict resolution around the world.»
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters the declaration «does a very good job of standing up for the principle that states cannot use force to seek territorial acquisition or to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of other states».
Germany and Britain have also praised the resolution but Ukraine has said «it was nothing to be proud of».
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In the weeks leading to the summit, sharply differing views on the war had threatened to derail the meeting, with the West demanding members call out Moscow for the invasion and Russia saying it would block any resolution that did not reflect its position.
The summit also admitted the African Union which includes 55 member states, as a permanent member of the G20.
On Sunday, the leaders, including U.S.
