Leon Neal | News Getty Images | Getty Images G-20 nations will issue a joint statement on Tuesday condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying “this age must not be war.” The leaders of the world’s biggest economies are gathering in Indonesia this week. Tensions over Russia’s aggression in Ukraine have raised questions about whether they could come together on one of the world’s most pressing issues, with Russia a member of the G-20 group. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is participating in the meeting. “Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed that it is causing enormous human suffering and exacerbating existing weaknesses in the global economy – curbing growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, increasing energy and food insecurity and increasing risks of financial stability”. will cite a joint statement, according to a draft document seen by CNBC. The joint statement also said “Peaceful conflict resolution, crisis management efforts, as well as diplomacy and dialogue, are vital. Today’s era must not be war.” The communique has been agreed by the top civil servants of all G-20 nations and is expected to be endorsed by heads of state later on Tuesday. At the time of writing, it was unclear whether China was among the nations that condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine. One official, who has been following the high-level talks in Indonesia and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the talks, told CNBC that “the ambiguity is there for a reason” — declining to confirm whether Beijing was among the “most members” which the Kremlin condemns. The same official added that the G-20 narrative “is moving forward because we are seeing the consequences of war.” “A few months ago, it would not have been possible to reach such an agreement,” the source said. Acknowledging the differences of opinion, the joint statement also said: “There were other views and different assessments of the situation and the sanctions.” Russia has described its invasion of Ukraine as a “special operation” aimed at “demilitarizing” its neighbor. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said on Tuesday that Western countries were politicizing the G-20 statement, according to Russian state media.
