Diplomats from G20 countries have reached a compromise agreement on a joint communique to be signed by their leaders, the EU delegation said on Tuesday, after days of negotiations on a statement acceptable to both Western powers and Russia and China. The leaders of most of the world’s most powerful nations gathered in Bali, Indonesia on Tuesday, shocked by disagreements over Russia’s war in Ukraine. Officials feared the summit would be the first G20 to end without a joint communique. However, Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said on Tuesday morning that delegates signed a deal late on Monday, which will now go to leaders for their final approval. Another Western delegation confirmed that agreement, but other officials warned that the deal could collapse before it is signed. Russian President Vladimir Putin skipped the summit and sent his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in his place. His war will dominate the Bali summit as countries grapple with the effects of runaway global inflation, instability and food and energy shortages, but also whether Putin is to blame and how the conflict should end. China, which has not condemned Putin and the annexation of parts of eastern Ukraine, last week blocked Western efforts to use strong language in a G20 communique condemning Moscow. “We should try to use the G20 meeting to try to convince all partners to put more pressure on Russia,” Michel said on Tuesday before the official start of the summit. Michel has no plans to meet Lavrov in Bali, he added.
