Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The interventions of the leaders of several countries of the world on the sidelines of the G-20 summit focused on calling for the need to stop the war in Ukraine in addition to the energy file, and this was evident in the speeches delivered by a number of leaders, including the Ukrainian President, the British Prime Minister and others. Russia's war is not only unjustified and illegal, it is causing immense suffering in Ukraine and harming the global economy.
Like many around this table, the European Union condemns this war and the G20 must now work together to address the devastating global consequences of the war.
An article published by the British newspaper "The Guardian" shed light on the speech delivered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the G20 summit, which kicked off today in Bali, Indonesia, as he stressed that the time has come for the war in his country to end.
The article, written by journalist Patrick Wintour, added that the Ukrainian president expressed his belief, during his speech to the leaders of the group via video conference technology, that this goal can be achieved now and end the war with the Russian forces, stressing his willingness to negotiate an agreement with the Russian side, in a way that guarantees Protecting Ukraine's sovereignty over its territory.
The Ukrainian president directed the conversation to both US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping - and not to Russian President Vladimir Putin - saying that it is not reasonable or acceptable to resort to nuclear blackmail, thanking the G19 leaders for confronting the Russian position in this regard.
The article indicated that the Ukrainian president accused Russia, represented during the summit by its Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, of seeking to turn the cold weather into a weapon by targeting the energy infrastructure in his country and depriving Ukraine of heating sources, especially with the onset of winter, during which temperatures drop to over below freezing.
Zelensky explained, as the writer says, that if Moscow's goal is to deprive his country and other European countries of energy sources and raise their prices in the global market, then the countries of the world must confront that Russian position by setting a maximum price for Russian energy imports.
At the same time, the Ukrainian president highlighted, in his speech to the G20 summit, the need to extend the Ukrainian grain export agreement to the countries of the world, which was reached about three months ago under the mediation of the United Nations, and whose term will expire next Saturday.
The writer explained that Ukraine is one of the most important grain-exporting countries in the world, but the Russian military operation there, which began in late February, hindered the export of nearly 20 million tons of grain to many regions of the world, but Ukraine managed to Resumption of export again under the agreement reached by the parties three months ago.
At the same time, the writer sheds light on the Russian position accusing Western countries of exploiting the grain export agreement to their advantage, explaining that the agreement is full of loopholes and that the bulk of the grain that was exported under the agreement found its way to the rich countries in Europe and did not reach the beneficiaries of the poor countries.
The writer notes that the grain agreement is part of the diplomatic efforts made by Russia and Western countries in order to prove to each party that it is right with regard to the currently raging conflict in Ukraine, noting that French President Emmanuel Macron met within the framework of those diplomatic efforts on the sidelines of the G-3 summit. The twenty presidents of South Africa, Argentina, Mexico, Senegal and Rwanda, in addition to his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, during which he expressed his belief that China could persuade the Russian president to sit at the negotiating table to end the war in Ukraine.
The writer concludes his article by stressing that the leaders of Western countries are doing their best to activate a diplomatic solution to reach a settlement over the war in Ukraine, out of their belief that diplomatic efforts can lay the foundations for peace in that part of the world.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday that Russia must get out of Ukraine and end the war at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, Downing Street said.
And the British (Sky News) network reported - in its English-language publication - that Sunak made these statements during the opening session of the summit, which was closed to the media, noting that he criticized the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to the Downing Street announcement, Sunak said, "It was noticeable that Putin did not feel he was able to join us here," adding that perhaps if he had joined the summit, things could have been moved forward.
"The United Kingdom rejects this aggression...we will support Ukraine as long as there is a need for it," Sunak added, noting that countries should not invade their neighbors and should not attack civilian infrastructure and civilian populations nor threaten nuclear escalation.
In an American context, a US official said - according to the American (Al-Hurra) channel - that President Joe Biden will speak before the G20 summit about energy security and put a ceiling on the price of Russian gas.
The official added that the United States expects the industrialized countries participating in the summit to condemn the Russian war on Ukraine and its impact on the global economy, expecting that the summit will discuss the issue of global food security.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo had confirmed - in his opening speech during the start of the G20 summit in Bali - that the world is currently facing a difficult crisis, warning that the next year will be more difficult than the current year.
Source: agencies